The regulation of burn-associated infections with herpes simplex virus type 1 or Candida albicans by a non-toxic aconitine-hydrolysate, benzoylmesaconine. Part 1: Antiviral and anti-fungal activities in thermally injured mice.

As compared with normal unburned mice, thermally injured mice have been shown to be 50-100 times more susceptible to HSV type 1 (HSV-1) or Candida albicans infection. Benzoylmesaconine (BEN) improved the resistance of thermally injured mice against infection with HSV-1 or C. albicans to the level observed in normal mice. Mortality rates of normal mice exposed to lethal amounts of these pathogens were not affected by the BEN treatment, while significant survival effects were produced in these mice after treatment with acyclovir (against HSV-1) or amphotericin B (against C. albicans). Benzoylmesaconine did not inhibit the growth of these pathogens in vitro and did not directly reduce the viability of the pathogens. However, burned mice inoculated with CD4+ T cells from BEN-treated mice resisted infections from these pathogens. These results suggested that, through the generation of CD4+ T cells, BEN recovered the impaired resistance of thermally injured mice to infection by HSV-1 or C. albicans.