TOPICAL IMMUNOGLOBULIN IS AN EFFECTIVE THERAPY FOR PARAINFLUENZA TYPE-3 IN A COTTON RAT MODEL

A cotton rat model was used to test the efficacy of topical immunother apy against parainfluenza type 3 (PIV3) infection. On day 3 after expe rimental infection with 10(5.5) pfu of PIV3, animals were treated with 2-fold dilutions of convalescent cotton rat serum or with one of two purified human immunoglobulin preparations; all three had moderate tit ers of anti-PIV3 neutralizing antibody (range, 1:200-1:1000). Therapy with high concentrations of all three preparations resulted in signifi cant reductions of greater than or equal to 2 logs (greater than or eq ual to 100-fold) of pulmonary virus titers compared with titers for co ntrol animals. Little or no reduction in virus titers were seen in nas al tissues.