Arzneimittel Forsch
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Arzneimittel Forsch · May 1998
Effects of a standardized mistletoe preparation on metastatic B16 melanoma colonization in murine lungs.
The immune response-modifying drug Lektinol is a mistletoe preparation which is standardized with respect to bioactive viscum album agglutinin, the most active component of mistletoe. The present study was designed to evaluate the antimetastatic effects of this preparation following intravenous injection of B16 melanoma cells into mice. The standardized mistletoe extract was administered intravenously in doses of 100, 1000 or 5000 microliters/kg (equivalent to 3, 30 or 150 ng/kg of viscum album agglutinin) once daily for three weeks. ⋯ The percentages of double-positive immature CD4+8+ thymocytes were significantly increased in animals treated with the standardized mistletoe extract. There were no signs of treatment-related toxicity. The results of this study indicate that the standardized mistletoe extract shows antimetastatic activity against B16 melanoma lung colonization.