Rat cytomegalovirus: induction of and sensitivity to interferon

Rat interferon (IFN) in a dose-dependent fashion inhibited the cytopathic effect of rat cytomegalovirus (RCMV) in rat cell cultures. Treatment of Lewis and Brown Norway (BN) rats with intraperitoneal injections of IFN reduced the amount of virus recovered from the spleens at 3 days post infection (p.i.) and from the salivary glands at 10 and 21 days p.i. In cell cultures, RCMV failed to induce detectable amounts of IFN. Small amounts of IFN were detectable in the serum of BN rats at 3 days p.i. In Lewis rats no IFN was found in serum at any time during the first month p.i.