The effect of bovine whey proteins on the ability of poliovirus and Coxsackie virus to infect Vero cell cultures

The antiviral activity of esterified whey proteins (IC₅₀=20–40 μg mL⁻¹) observed against poliovirus type-1 and Coxsackie virus B6 infecting Vero cells depended on five factors (in order of importance): concentration of esterified proteins, multiplicity of infection, duration of incubation, timing of esterified proteins addition after infection, and extent of esterification of proteins. Renewal of cell growth medium after 24 h of incubation with new medium containing the same amount of esterified proteins enhanced the anti Coxsackie virus effect. Difference between start of infection of the reporter Vero cells and the time of addition of esterified proteins significantly decreased their antiviral efficacies. The poliovirus titer reduced gradually in response to the increase of the concentrations of esterified proteins. The relative amounts of viral RNA were less affected by the esterified proteins concentration than was the virus infectious titer, indicating that inhibitory proteins may slow down viral multiplication, yielding reduced amounts of viral RNA.