Pressure Reversal of Halothane's Antiviral Effect

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Abstract
The effects of hyperbaric pressure and halothane [a general anesthetic] on measles virus replication were studied. Two percent halothane at 1 atm of air (ATA) reduced the number of infectious measles virus particles produced in cultured Vero [African green monkey] cells by greater than 4 orders of magnitude (P < 0.001) relative to virus produced in untreated cultures at 1 ATA. The same concentration of halothane at 100 ATA still reduced the amount of virus synthesized but only by 1.5 orders of magnitude (P < 0.01) as compared with control cultures. Pressure (100 ATA) alone reduced virus production insignificantly. The antiviral effects of halothane on measles virus replication in cultured Vero cells is apparently reversible at least partially by pressure.