Dose-response relationships of lymphocytic choriomeningitis viruses in mice and L cell tube cultures

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Abstract
SUMMARY: The dose—response relationships between two strains of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (WE3and Armstrong) and two hosts (mice and L cell tube cultures) were determined. The statistical analysis showed that, if infection was regarded as the response, and in the case of Armstrong virus in mice also death, the shapes of the empirical dose—response curves did not deviate from expectation which was based on the zero term of the Poisson distribution. Hence, the hypothesis that individual infectious units are capable of initiating infection and that co-operation is not required, was not contradicted. Furthermore, the units of assay were found to be equally susceptible under the experimental conditions applied.By way of contrast, the relationship between WE3virus and mice dying after intracerebral inoculations was found to be more complex. In this case the empirical curve did not run the expected sigmoid course at all, but rather was bell-shaped with a maximum of mortality (92%) at approximately 50 ID 50.The work was supported by a research grant from the Deutsche Forschungs-gemeinschaft.