Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) infection in rabbit eye: role of antibody and interferon.

The effect of VSV infection in rabbit eye was investigated. The findings indicated that maximum virus growth in the rabbit cornea coincided with peak keratitis on postinfection day 1. Thereafter, keratitis was generally not observed, whereas infectious virus was detected in the cornea through day 6. Primary virus infection in the cornea of one eye produced serum-neutralizing antibody which did not protect the contralateral control cornea against an initial infection with homologous virus. Virus infection in the cornea did not spread to other segments of the eye and produced resistance in that cornea to reinfection with homologous but not heterologous virus. Resistance to reinfection of the cornea was correlated with presence of a virus-neutralizing substance. The data also suggested that resistance to or recovery from VSV infection in the cornea might be mediated by inducers of interferon, e.g., bacterial endotoxin (S. marcescens), statolon (Venicillium stoloniferum), and complexed polynucleotide RNA (polycytidylic: polyinosinic acids).