CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF NUCLEIC ACIDS AND HIGH PROTEIN DIETS AGAINST THE INFECTION CAUSED BY THE MM VIRUS IN MICE

¹ Irwin, Neisler and Company, Decatur, Illinois
² Department of Pharmacology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota

1 . Ribose nucleic acid and desoxyribose nucleic acid, when administered intraperitoneally once daily for each of the 4, 6 or 12 days immediately prior to infection in a dose of 200 mgm./kgm. prevented paralysis and/or death from the infection caused by the MM neurotropic virus.

2. Ribose nucleic acid when administered orally in 1 or 2 per cent concentration mixed with a Fox Chow diet had only slight, if any, activity against the infection.

3. Yeast having a high nucleic acid content when administered orally as 5 per cent of a Fox Chow diet proved to be inactive against the infection.

4. Feeding the animals a high protein diet (40 and 60 per cent protein) for 14 days before and 28 days after infection offered no protection against the infection when the high protein diet was prepared by adding pure proteins to Fox Chow. The inclusion of 1 or 2 per cent ribose nucleic acid or 5 per cent yeast in the above diets did not materially alter the results.

5. Feeding a high protein diet for 14 days before and 28 days after infection proved to be highly active in protecting against the infection when the diet was a completely synthetic preparation containing 60 per cent casein. A diet containing 40 per cent casein or less offered no protection.

6. The inclusion of 1 or 2 per cent ribose nucleic acid or 5 per cent yeast in either the 40 or 60 per cent pure casein diets resulted in a high degree of protection against the infection. The greatest degree of protection was shown by 2 per cent ribose nucleic acid in a 60 per cent pure casein diet (22/30) and 5 per cent yeast in a 40 per cent pure casein diet (17/30).

7. Pure diets containing 40 per cent gluten, egg albumin or blood fibrin plus 1 per cent ribose nucleic acid were slightly less active than a similar casein diet.

8. Ribose nucleic acid when administered intraperitoneally for 12 days prior to infection in a dose of 200 mgm./kgm. in animals being maintained on 40 or 60 per cent pure casein diets appeared to be more active (20/30) than was found when it was administered to animals on a Fox Chow diet (15/30).