Duration of Prophylactic Effect of Statolon Against Mengovirus in Mice

Intraperitoneal injection of statolon into mice is known to exert a protective effect against a subsequent infection with a variety of viruses owing to stimulation of production of interferon. To study the duration of such protection, groups of mice were treated with 350 μg of statolon at 69, 55, 41, 27, 13, 6, or 1 day prior to a challenge with mengovirus. Other groups were treated with 760 μg at 1 to 6 days before challenge. Ten days after inoculation with the virus, LD50 determinations were made for each group. Mice which received statolon 1 to 5 days before infection were significantly more resistant to the virus than nontreated controls; no protection could be demonstrated in the other groups.