Effect of Diethylstilbestrol on Replication and Transformation by Human Herpesviruses

Abstract

Human embryo fibroblasts treated with diethylstilbestrol (DES) gave rise to slightly increased plaque production by cytomegalovirus (CMV); plaques were also slightly larger in treated cells when compared to those in untreated cultures. There was no significant enhancement of plaque production by herpes simplex virus (HSV) types 1 and 2 in the human cells or in primary rabbit kidney cells treated with DES. Growth analyses of HSV and CMV in DES-treated cells failed to reveal enhancement of virus production when compared to untreated cells. The frequency of biochemical transformation of mouse cells deficient in thymidine kinase (TK) to the TK+ phenotype by HSV was markedly enhanced when cells were pretreated with DES. TK+-transformed colonies arising from DES-treated cells were also larger than those derived from untreated cultures. These data reveal that DES increases susceptibility of human cell lines to CMV infection and enhances efficiency of biochemical transformation of mouse cells by HSV.

A prospective study of association of herpes simplex virus and human papillomavirus infection with cervical neoplasia in women exposed to diethylstilbestrol in utero

“…An association between infection with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) and carcinoma of the cervix has been repeatedly demonstrated by seroepidemiological studies since 1968. This has been verified in different geographic areas of all continents (Adam et al, 1974;Rawls and Adam, 1977). The frequency of antibodies to HSV-2 in cases of cervical neoplasia of similar histologic type observed in studies conducted in different geographic areas yielded equivocal results in that the prevalence of antibodies to HSV-2 varied from 31 to 100% (Plummer et al, 1971;Pridan and Lilienfeld 1971;Rawls et al, 1972).…”

“…It has become evident that a prospective study would shed light on the problem. Such a study was started in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1975 (Melnick andVonka et al, 1984a,b) and simultaneously an opportunity was opened in the USA for a prospective study when the National Cancer Institute initiated a multicenter cooperative study of diethylstilbestrol exposure in utero and cancer risk in about 5,000 women in 4 centers (Adam et al, 1977;Labarthe et al, 1978;. Only the Houston, TX center was able to arrange for the collection of serum specimens.…”

Identification of potential pan-coronavirus therapies using a computational drug repurposing platform

“…Ademetionine has also been identified as a repurposing candidate in several studies [7] , [40] . And Diethylstilbestrol and adenosine have been shown to be effective in regulating the replication of other viruses [41] , [42] . Thus, these previous studies lend further support for the potential relevance of these drugs in Cluster.…”

Physical and chemical methods for enhancing rapid detection of viruses and other agents.

“…Enhancement of plaque production by CMV AD169 was observed after both pre-and post-diethylstilbestrol treatment (10' to 10' M) of Flow 5000 cells (230). However, viral titers were not increased.…”