Abstract
The in vitro and in vivo effects of fluorides (sodium fluoride and sodium monofluoroacetate) upon poliomyelitis virus of Lansing strain were studied with white mice infected with the virus by the intracerebral and intraspinal routes.
Sodium fluoride had no effect on the polio virus in vitro at a concentration of 2500γ/ml (i.e. 0.25%) in physiological saline; or it had no effect on the polio infection of mice when it was administered in intraperitoneal injection of 35mg/kg per mouse.
Sodium monofluoroacetate showed an apparant inhibition of the infection of polio virus during the initial stage when it was administered in the intraperitoneal injection of 9mg/kg per mouse. Moreover, the time when the first sign of infection appeared was delayed in the treated mice. However, only a slight inhibition could be observed when sodium monofluoroacetate was administered in dose of 5mg/kg per mouse.
It appeared that the inhibitory action of sodium monofluoroacetate to the morbidity of poliomylitis produced by the intraspinal route was more effective than that produced by the intracerebral route.
Sodium monofluoroacetate at a relatively high concentration such as 2500γ/ml had no direct effect in vitro on the infectivity of poliomyelitis virus.
It was demonstrated with mice infected with polio virus either intracerebrally or intraspinally that sodium monofluoroacetate showed a definite initial depression on the rate of virus multiplication when it was administered one hour prior to the virus inoculation either in the administration in the dose of 9mg/kg or 5mg/kg.
The inhibitory effect on the multiplication of polio virus by sodium monofluoroacetate appeared a little more distinct with the intraspinal inoculation than with the intracerebral inoculation.
Throughout the present experiments, it was shown that the incubation period of the polio infection in mice was shorter in the intraspinal inoculation than in the intracerebral inoculation.
Biological and virological significance of the results obtained was discussed, and it was postulated that the reduced growth of polio virus as observed might be correlated to the accumulation of citrate associated with the intoxication by sodium monofluoroacetate, as well as to some other unknown factors.
