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A study has been conducted on the features of distriburion of Au among the fractions of a 7-step sequential extraction procedure using model substances that are similar in composition to natural organic matter from the dispersion train of sulfide tailings. Use has been made of model substances with known Au speciations: bulk native gold, nanoscale native gold, Au-containing pyrite, humic acids, and Fe(III) oxides/hydroxides, which served as the basis for preparing mixtures with low-Au filler substances (quartz, limestone, humic acids, Fe(III) oxides/hydroxides).It has been stated that several Au species are leached in one fraction during sequential extraction. Nanoscale Au0 and gold bound to the organic matter are leached together in easily oxidizable (organic) fraction; gold bound to Fe(III) compounds and Au complexes chemisorbed on the surface of other minerals (sulfides, aluminosilicates) are leached in reducible (hydroxides) fraction; "invisible" gold in sulfides, nanoscale Au0 and, partially, >1 μm-seized bulk Au0 are leached in hardly oxidizable (sulfidic) fraction. Bulk native gold is leached predominantly in residual fraction. Mobile species are Au bound to water-soluble organic compounds and complexes of ionic Au desorbed from the surface of minerals.

The purpose of the study was to analyze the antitumor effects of the extract of mycelium from Duddingtonia flagrans (strain F-882) on xenografts of human C33a cervical cancer cells.Material and Methods. To evaluate the antitumor effect, we used the absolute values of xenograft volumes and calculated the tumor growth inhibition and the index of tumor growth.Results. At the first stage of the experiment, a 4-week subcutaneous injection of the water extract of F-882 resulted in an almost twofold slowdown in xenograft growth, with the tumor growth inhibition value of 50.6 %. In the second stage of the experiment, a 2.5-week subcutaneous injection followed by a 1.5-week intratumoral injection of F-882 also caused the tumor growth inhibition. After completing F-882 injections, the effect of tumor growth inhibition continued for 2.5 weeks and the tumor growth inhibition value was 58.7 %.Conclusion. The mycelium extract F-882 was shown to have an antitumor effect on subcutaneous xenografts of human C33a cervical carcinoma cells.

Introduction. One of the most urgent problem of modern medicine is the fight against the disease caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) – HIV infection. The chemical compounds have improved the situation for infected people, but they are toxic, disrupt the metabolism and cannot eliminate the integrated virus from the body. The emergence of resistant HIV strains makes these treatments ineffective. Often, the death of HIV-infected people occurs as a result of the development of opportunistic infections caused by viruses of the Herpesviridae family. Therefore, the search for new therapeutic and preventive drugs that are less toxic and active against several viruses at the same time is relevant. Basidiomycetes, higher fungi, are a source of medicinal compounds that have antimicrobial properties, as well as antiviral ones. Humic compounds (HS) of various nature also have antiviral activity. The aim of the study was to obtain nontoxic compounds from the basidiomycete Inonotus obliquus and humic compounds from brown coals and to test their activity against viruses that are pathogenic to humans: HIV and Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV). Material and methods. The antiviral activity of melanin extracts obtained from the culture of the chaga fungus Inonotus obliquus and HS from the brown coal of the Kansko-Achinsk Deposit was studied using a model of MT-4 lymphoblastoid cells infected with HIV type 1 (HIV–1) strains and a monolayer culture of Vero cells infected with HSV type 1 (HSV-1) using virological and statistical research methods. Results and discussion. It was found that all the studied compounds did not have a cytotoxic effect on cells at a concentration of 100 mcg/ml. It was shown that extracts of basidiomycetes and HS have antiviral activity against HIV-1 and HSV-1. EC 50 (50%-effective concentration) for HIV-1 was 3.7–5.0 mcg/ml, selectivity index 28–35. Antiherpetic activity was detected at a dose of 50–100 mcg/ml. The antiviral effectiveness of melanin compounds was established both in the «preventive» (2 hours before cell infection) and in the «therapeutic» regimen of drug administration, both for HIV-1 and HSV-1. The presence of antiviral activity of melanin and HS in relation to the RNA-containing HIV-1 virus and DNA-containing HSV-1 virus in our study coincides with the results of a number of authors in relation to influenza viruses, herpes virus, HIV, hepatitis B virus, Coxsackievirus, smallpox vaccine virus, which suggests that the type of nucleic acid in the virus does not play a fundamental role in the antiviral action of these drugs. It is also clear that HS is effective against both enveloped and non-enveloped viruses. Conclusion. In general, it can be concluded that melanin and humic compounds are characterized by low toxicity in the presence of both virucidal and antiviral activity. This allows us to consider the studied compounds as the basis for creating safe medicines that are effective against pathogens of various viral infections.

Sixty preparations of basidiomycetes ( Ganoderma, Lentinus, Pleurotus, Laetiporus, Polyporus, Inonotus, Flammulina, Grifola, Trametes) were investigated with respect to their toxicity for Vero cells and antiviral activity. The antiviral activity was estimated with the use of the West Nile virus and type 2 Herpes simplex. It was shown that 11 preparations of Ganoderma, Lentinus and Pleurotus completely inhibited the infective activity in doses not lower than 1000 TCD50 (the West Nile virus) and 100 PPU (type 2 Herpes simplex). The antiviral activity of the preparations was likely due to the content of polysaccharides or their derivatives in the composition. It increased with increasing of the quantity of the total polysaccharide fraction or its concentration.

Toxicity and antiviral activity of aqueous extracts from higher mushrooms such as Lentinula edodes (Berk.) Pegler (shiitake), Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.) P. Kumm. (oyster), Inonotus obliquus (Ach. ex Pers.) Pilat (chaga), Hydnellum compactum (Pers.) P. Karst. (compact tooth) were studied. In doses of 0.8 to 4.0 mg (dry weight) per mouse administered orally or intraperitoneally the extracts showed no acute toxicity. When the dose of the chaga extract was increased to 20 mg per mouse, a half of the animals died. Intraperitoneal administration of the aqueous extracts in a dose of 0.4-2 mg per mouse prior to the contamination by a single LD50 of Herpes simplex type 2 provided 100-percent survival of the animals exposed to the Lentinula edodes or Pleurotus ostreatus extracts and 90-percent survival of the animals exposed to the Inonotus obliquus or Hydnellum compactum extracts.

Carried out was evaluation of the effect of water extracts from basidiomycetes in Vero cell culture on variola virus, and vaccinia virus. Antiviral effect demonstrated Inonotus obliquus (Chaga), befungin and melanin from chaga, Ganoderma applanatum (Artist’s Bracket) , Fomitopsis officinalis (Larch Fungus) .