Effect of cyclosporine A on the non-specific, innate antiviral immunity of mice.

Different infections are the most common complication of immunosuppressive therapy. In this context, the effect of cyclosporine A (CsA) on the innate antiviral immunity of mice was studied. The presence of immunity was shown by infection of resident peritoneal cells (RPC) of BALB/c mice with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). While the cells infected immediately after isolation were resistant to the viruses, the cells cultured for several days before infection lost the immunity. The lack of activity to neutralize HSV-1 and VSV in the sera of the mice excluded a participation of specific antibodies in the resistance. To study the effect of CsA on the innate immunity, BALB/c mice were intraperitoneally (i.p.) injected with cyclosporine (20 or 100 microg/mouse, twice a day) for 3 days. The other group of animals was injected in the same way with PBS only. Then the peritoneal cells were isolated and infected with VSV immediately after cell isolation. The kinetics of viral replication in the control and CsA-treated groups was compared. While in the cells from the control group VSV did not multiply, in the cells from the CsA-treated mice the virus reached considerable titers. The cyclosporine effect on VSV replication was dose dependent and statistically significant. We conclude that innate antiviral immunity was suppressed in the cyclosporine-treated mice and that this mechanism may be involved in the high susceptibility of patients to viral infections during immunosuppressive therapy.