A system for screening natural immunosuppressors

: Criteria for directed screening of antibiotics with immunosuppressive action were defined. The first stage included screening of cultures producing antiaspergillous antibiotics. At the second stage, the antibiotics whose antifungal activity decreases in the presence of insulin (at the background of calcium salts) and erythromycin and increases in the presence of verapamil were selected. The screening of antibiotic-producing cultures among 123 strains of mycelial fungi and 181 strains of actinomycetes resulted in isolation of 3 fungal cultures and 2 actinomycetes which produced antibiotics corresponding to cyclosporine A as evidenced by thin-layer and high performance liquid chromatographies.