Bovine Amniotic Fluid as Tissue Culture Medium in Cultivation of Poliomyelitis and Other Viruses. ∗

Summary

Bovine amniotic fluid induced active cell growth when substituted for balanced salt solution and bovine serum ultranltrate in a medium used for the cultivation of embryonic and mature human tissues in roller tube cultures. The growth was more luxuriant than that observed in comparable cultures maintained with the balanced salt mixture. Moreover, superior yields of poliomyelitis viruses have been obtained in cultures nourished with bovine amniotic fluid as a constituent of the medium and in such cultures the minimal infecting dose of these agents has also proved to be smaller. Bovine amniotic fluid does not interfere with the neutralization of poliomyelitis virus by specific antibody. Through the use of bovine amniotic fluid the labor and expense involved in the preparation and maintenance of tissue cultures applied to the propagation of poliomyelitis virus and certain other agents of this class have been reduced.