Enhancement of Virus Multiplication and Interferon Production by Cortisone in Ocular Herpesvirus Infection

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Abstract
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) was inoculated into the anterior chambers of rabbit eyes, and either saline or 25 mg of hydrocortisone was then injected daily into the subconjunctival tissues. The animals that received saline developed minimal corneal opacity in only 25% of their eyes; there was only brief multiplication of virus, but no interferon (IF) was detected in the ocular tissues. The cortisone-treated animals, however, showed much more severe corneal opacity in almost 80% of their eyes, enhanced and prolonged virus multiplication, and rather high titers of IF in the ocular tissues. The results suggest a) that the aggravation of corneal lesions of herpesvirus by cortisone treatment is not associated with reduced production of IF in the infected tissues, and b) that IF plays at best a very modest role in minimizing infection with HSV in the eyes treated with cortisone. A partial inhibitory effect of cortisone on anti-HSV action of IF was demonstrated in in vitro experiments with primary cultures of rabbit kidney cells.

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