Additive effect of neutralizing antibody and antiviral drug treatment in preventing virus escape and persistence

Poorly cytopathic or noncytopathic viruses can escape immune surveillance a nd establish a chronic infection. Here we exploited the strategy of combini ng antiviral drug treatment with the induction of a neutralizing antibody r esponse to avoid the appearance of neutralization-resistant virus variants. Despite the fact that H25 immunoglobulin transgenic mice infected with lym phocytic choriomeningitis virus mounted an early neutralizing antibody resp onse, the virus escaped from neutralization and persisted. After ribavirin treatment of H25 transgenic mice, the appearance of neutralization-resistan t virus was prevented and virus was cleared. Thus, the combination of virus -neutralizing antibodies and chemotherapy efficiently controlled the infect ion, whereas each defense line alone did not, Similar additive effects may be unexpectedly efficient and beneficial in humans after infections with pe rsistent viruses such as hepatitis C virus and hepatitis B virus and possib ly human immunodeficiency virus.