Colchicine treatment in the preparation of varicella-zoster virus inocula

Two methods, ultrasonic and colchicine treatment, for preparing varicella-zoster virus (VZV) inocula were compared. Ultrasonic treatment was unsuccessful in achieving the release of detectable, infectious, cell-free VZV from infected human foreskin fibroblast (SF) cells. Sonication of infected SF cells resulted in losses of virus infectivity in direct correlation with losses in cell viability (r = 0.82). In the second method of generating VZV inocula, VZV-infected SF cells were treated for 15 min with 15-20 ng of colchicine per cell. Colchicine treatment maintained short-term survival of virus infectivity, but resulted in a dramatic decrease in long-term cell viability. In addition, colchicine-treated cells could not support the replication of VZV.