Antibody and interferon act synergistically to inhibit enterovirus, adenovirus, and herpes simplex virus infection.

The possibility that interferon (IFN) and antibody could act together to reduce virus yields in infected cells was suggested by the simultaneous occurrence of IFN and antibody at infected sites. In the present in vitro studies, mixtures of IFNs and antibody acted synergistically to reduce virus yields in cultures infected with coxsackievirus A24, enterovirus 70, adenovirus, and herpes simplex virus. This synergistic reduction was observed in different cells and at different concentration of IFN and antibody. Although IFN and antibody acted synergistically against all viruses tested, the degree of synergism was dependent on the type of IFN or the virus. For example, IFN-beta and antibody was 10 to 200 times more effective than IFN-gamma and antibody against coxsackievirus A24, enterovirus 70, and adenovirus. A combination of antibody and IFN-gamma was three to five times more effective than IFN-beta and antibody against herpes simplex virus. In addition, we found that endogenously produced IFN-beta could act synergistically with antibody to coxsackievirus A24 to increase the overall antiviral effect by 10(5.0)-fold. No effect of endogenous IFN was observed in herpes simplex virus-infected cultures treated with antibody to herpes simplex virus. These studies indicate the potential importance of the synergistic effect of locally produced IFN and antibody in restricting virus early in the natural infectious process. They also suggest that combinations of IFNs and antibody may be more beneficial in the treatment of certain virus infections than IFN or antibody alone.