Cytotoxicity and cytoadherence of human and murine polymorphonuclear leukocytes against Junin virus infected targets in the absence of anti-viral antibody and complement.

Human and murine polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) lysed L cells infected with Junin Virus (JV) in an in vitro system free of antiviral antibody and complement. Infected VERO cells proved to be resistant to the cytolytic effect. Murine PMN showed an increased adherence on JV-infected L cells but did not attach to VERO cells. The opposite was observed with human PMN, which did adhere to infected VERO cells but not to infected L cells. These results indicate that PMN activity may be an early mechanism of defense in JV infection by lysing virus-infected cells when no immune response has been established, and that cytoadherence is not a necessary step for target lysis.