Experiments With the Virus of Poliomyelitis

Abstract

1. Efforts to adapt the virus of poliomyelitis to the rabbit organism and to produce poliomyelitis in rabbits by testicular injection and by brain injection after testicular passage produced no evidence that the virus could be adapted in this manner. Suggestive symptoms produced in very young rabbits were duplicated in non-specifically treated and in uninoculated controls. The admixture of a vaccine virus, adapted to the rabbit organism, with the poliomyelitis virus in similar injections and passages did not aid the adaptation. The virus of poliomyelitis did not survive 24 hours in the rabbit testicle—whether alone or mixed with vaccine virus. Repeated intraperitoneal and intradermal injection of poliomyelitis virus and of poliomyelitis and vaccinia virus mixtures produced no disease in rabbits. Massive doses of concentrated virus by stomach tube in conjunction with meningeal irritation produced no symptoms in rabbits. 2. No neutralizing substances against poliomyelitis virus could be produced in rabbits by the repeated intraperitoneal and intradermal injection of poliomyelitis virus or of poliomyelitis-vaccinia virus mixtures. 3. Although attempts to infect monkeys by intrastomachic injections, after bile irritation of the mucosa, were entirely negative, evidence was obtained that repeated intrastomachic injection after bile irritation may produce an appreciable degree of immunity. 4. No evidence could be obtained that the cellular elements of the blood contain the virus in any greater proportion than the whole blood. 5. One attempt to immunize by neutral virus-serum mixtures was entirely negative.

Tissue Permeability and the Spreading Factors in Infection 1

“…Thus, the injection of certain strains of poliomyelitis virus by several routes into rabbits (244) and rats (102) along with T.E., as well as avian tubercle bacilli to dogs (23), have not resulted in infection. No localization other than in the salivary glands was obtained when the virus of Kuttner and Cole was inoculated subcutaneously together with T.E.…”

Studies of a Murine Strain of Poliomyelitis Virus in Cotton Rats and White Mice

“…The results of the experiments described in this section indicate that convalescent sera which are capable of inactivating SK and Aycock poliomyelitis virus in monkeys also possess neutralizing power for the murine virus in mice and, vice versa, that immunization with mouse virus leads to the formation of antibodies which are virucidal for the murine virus as well as for SK and Aycock monkey poliomyelitis virus. Why the antimurine virus sera prepared in monkeys should inactivate poliomyelitis virus better than those prepared in rabbits is not clear, even though the rabbit is known to function ineffectively in the production of antipoliomyelitis serum (11,12); were it not for the fact that the rabbit immune sera possessed strong virucidal properties against the murine virus, one might feel inclined to attribute this defection to the rapid destruction of the antigen in the rabbit (see earlier section). The inability of the antimurine virus sera to inactivate RMV virus as well as the absence of neutralization between RMV convalescent serum and the murine virus are in good agreement with the serological characteristics of the original SK strain, as described by Trask, Paul, and Vignec (13) in their identification of this virus upon its first isolation from man.…”

Studies on Production of Antipoliomyelitis Serum in Rabbits.

“…Furthermore, completely negative results have also been reported (2)(3)(4) of attempts to produce neutralizing antibodies in rabbits inoculated repeatedly with virus infected monkey spinal cord suspensions given by various routes of inoculation, including the subcutaneous, intradermal, intraperitoneal and intramuscular. On the other hand, antipoliomyelitis sera have been produced successfully in horses, sheep ( 5,6), and mice ( 7).…”