Abstract
Summary
The antiviral activity induced in mice by MA-56 has been characterized as an interferon. Maximum serum concentration is attained within 16-18 hr after feeding a single oral dose ranging from 400 to 500 mg/kg body wt. MA-56 induces a hyporeactive period of at least 40 hr. Interferon-production kinetics and cycloheximide experiments indicate that MA-56, like tilorone, has an induction pattern that can be blocked by cycloheximide and resembles viral induction rather than that of synthetic polynucleotides and bacterial endotoxin. Although MA-56 apparently does not induce a very high concentration of titratable interferon when compared to other inducers, its ability to protect mice against the lethal challenge of several viruses has been demonstrated.
The authors are indebted to Drs. M. Pollard and T. Merigan for their contributions in the total development of this study. We also thank our collaborators at Plum Island Laboratory for testing FMDV and Anna Huff of our laboratory for her excellent technical assistance.
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