Antibiotic Carry-over in Cell Cultures of Herpes Simplex Virus

Abstract

Schneierson and Shore¹ reported that herpes simplex virus grown in cell culture was capable of inhibiting the growth of certain strains of bacteria. In a preliminary investigation in this laboratory, attempts to confirm the findings of Schneierson and Shore were successful. This investigation was then expanded to include testing the virus suspensions collected from different cell lines against a wide range of Gram-positive and Gram-negative organisms representing 15 species. In the course of the assays it was noted that the activity of the virus suspension against test organisms produced a sensitivity pattern similar to that of streptomycin or penicillin. It was noted, however, that this antibacterial activity of the virus culture was lost following serial passage through cells cultivated in antibiotic-free medium. In an attempt to explain the loss of antibacterial activity, the hypothesis was formulated that the antibacterial activity might result from antibiotics carried over from the original inoculum. The purpose of this report is to present the results arising from the testing of this hypothesis.