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Biomedical subjects

T C Merigan

Publications and source records attributed to T C Merigan.

At least 361 records · Page 20Linked to original sources

Potentiating Effect of Freund's Adjuvant on Interferon Production by Endotoxin or Poly rI*Poly rC.

Intraperitoneal injection of mice with mineral oil, incomplete (IFA) or complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) increased the interferon response to endotoxin or (poly rI)*(poly rC) administered intravenously 2 days later. After endotoxin administration, circulating interferon titers were increased at several different times of sampling and with a variety of endotoxin dosages. When injection of endotoxin was delayed until 6 to 8 days after the administration of IFA or CFA, interferon production was markedly decreased. Mice treated with CFA and injected with endotoxin 2 days later became more resistant to intranasal vesicular stomatitis virus challenge than mice injected with endotoxin alone. Hyporeactivity to the interferon-inducing capacity of a second injection of endotoxin 2 days after the first injection could not be overcome by administering CFA simultaneously with the first dose. CFA treatment not only raised the serum interferon titers produced by endotoxin, but also increased the number of interferon-forming cells in the spleen after administration of endotoxin in vivo. In addition, CFA enhanced the intravascular clearance of (poly rI)*(poly rC). The possibility that Freund's adjuvant increased the interferon response to endotoxin and (poly rI)*(poly rC) by stimulating the uptake and processing of the interferon inducer by lymphoreticular cells is discussed.

Journal Article↗

The role of interferon in the protective effect of a synthetic double-stranded polyribonucleotide against intranasal vesicular stomatitis virus challenge in mice.

Intravenous injection of polyinosinic acid/polycytidylic acid [(poly rI).(poly rC)] offered significant protection against intranasal challenge of young mice with vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). Optimal protection was obtained when a single dose was administered 2 hr before virus challenge, but repeated doses were effective when started as late as 3 days after virus challenge. The therapeutic ratio or ratio of maximum tolerated dose to minimum effective dose for a single intravenous injection of (poly rI).(poly rC) 2 hr before virus inoculation was >/=8 mg/kg:0.004 mg/kg or >/=200.Dose-response curves for interferon production and antiviral protection by (poly rI).(poly rC) were closely parallel. Equivalent doses of poly rI or poly rC alone did not exert any interferon-inducing capacity or protective effect on intranasal VSV challenge. Several factors, which are known to potentiate or antagonize interferon production, increased or decreased the interferon-inducing capacity and antiviral protection of either (poly rI).(poly rC) or maleic acid/divinyl ether copolymer (MA/DVE) in parallel. Interferon production and antiviral protection by MA/DVE were enhanced by arginine but abolished by prior treatment with MA/DVE; DEAE-dextran (intraperitoneally), kinetin riboside and isopentenyladenosine, and prior injection of endotoxin reduced both interferon production and antiviral protection by (poly rI).(poly rC). Treatment with exogenous interferon in amounts which closely mimicked the levels of circulating interferon produced endogenously by an effective dose of (poly rI).(poly rC) gave protection against intranasal VSV which was identical with that dose of (poly rI).(poly rC). This strongly suggests that interferon production accounts for the whole protective effect of (poly rI).(poly rC) in the intranasal VSV assay.

Animals↗

[Interferon induction increased through chemical modification of a synthetic polyribonucleotide].

The alternating copolymer riboadenylic-ribouridylic acid gained asignificant increase in ability to stimulate interferon production (2-to 20-fold) and cellular resistance (100-to 10,000-fold) both in vitro and in vivo upon substitution of phosphate by thiophosphate groups. The resulting nucleotide analog was also 10 to 100 times less sensitive to degradation by pancreatic ribonuclease, as determined byresidual antiviral activity.

Animals↗