Abstract
It has been shown 1 that organisms suspended in commercial gastric mucin and injected intraperitoneally into mice have greater effect on the host than an inoculum of such organisms suspended in saline. With this in mind it was decided to try to produce an infection with the virus of poliomyelitis in mice with the aid of mucin.
The virus containing glycerinated monkey cord, kindly furnished by Dr. Paul Hudson, was ground with sand and diluted so that the inoculum contained about 1% of the ground cord. Mucin∗ was sterilized by boiling for 3-4 hours in alcohol, decanting the alcohol, drying the mucin in vacuo at 50°C. and finally making a 5% emulsion of it in saline.
Mice were inoculated with various lots of virus containing cord suspended in saline or mucin. Control mice received an inoculum of mucin alone or in some instances ground glycerinated normal dog cord suspended in mucin. One cc. was inoculated in each case.
Seventy-six mice have been inoculated intraperitoneally with various batches of virus suspended in mucin emulsion. Of these 13 developed a muscular weakness which tended to affect particularly the hind legs and tail. Two mice developed a flaccid paralysis, one of the left side and the other of the right hind leg. Deaths have occurred in 22 mice in from 1 to 41 days (average 9.4 days) following inoculation. In 8 of these animals the lungs, which partially collapsed on opening the chest, were red to dark red. Heart blood of these mice inoculated to blood agar gave no evidence of infection.
Thirty-nine mice were inoculated with virus suspended in saline. Weakness was noted in 4 of these in from 2 to 9 days.
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