Isolation and Persistence of Chikungunya Virus in Cultures of Mouse Brain Cells

Abstract

SUMMARY Cultures of brain cells taken from mice at 1 to 3 days after peripheral infection with Chikungunya virus, showed loss of contact inhibition and morphological alterations which suggested that these cells may have been transformed. In cultures infected in vitro with a low dose of about 104 LD50/ml of culture medium, areas of epithelial-like cells and hypertrophied cells were dominant, cultures were destroyed after infection with a high dose of about 106 LD50/ml of culture medium. Cultures not destroyed by virus were studied for up to 4 months. The supernatant fluids of these cultures were titrated regularly in an adult mouse system in which the amounts of virus recorded varied from 103.7 to 106.0 LD50/ml.