AN ANTIVIRAL SUBSTANCE FROM PENICILLIUM FUNICULOSUM

Abstract

Helenine, Newcastle disease virus (NDV), and statolon, all known inducers of interferon in mice, all exerted a marked antiviral (AV) effect against Semliki Forest virus. This AV effect was, so fat as can be demon-strated, mediated through the induced interferon. The same 3 materials also exerted a marked antipassive immunity (API) effect. All the evi-dence that can be brought to bear indicates that this API effect like the AV effect is mediated through interferon known to be induced by the 3 materials. If the API effect does indeed have interf eron as its basis, this represents a new and totally unsuspected action of inter-feron.