Objective: To study the antiviral activity of silicone oil against herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) in vitro.
Methods: (1) TCID(50) (Tissue culture infectious dose 50% endpoint) of HSV-1 was titrated. (2) The Hela cells were placed in a 96-well plate. (3) The virus was diluted by 100TCID(50), 50TCID(50), 30TCID(50), 10TCID(50), and 1TCID(50) individually. (4) Each of the five different concentrations of virus was inoculated into 16 wells. Of the 16 wells, 0.1 ml silicone oil was added to eight of them as the experimental group, and the other eight wells were used as controls. (5) Sixteen additional wells were added: silicone oil and maintenance media were added to eight wells, and only maintenance media to the other eight wells.
Results: (1) The cytopathic effect (CPE) of wells inoculated with 30TCID(50) combined with silicone oil was significantly less than that of the viral control at 32 hours (P < 0.01), and the same results occurred in group 10TCID(50) combined with silicone oil at 45 hours (P < 0.01) and group 1TCID(50) combined with silicone oil at 51 hours (P < 0.01). (2) In the viral control, the cells in 30TCID(50), 10TCID(50) and 1TCID(50) had pathological changes at 45, 58 and 58 hours respectively. (3) The cells of either the viral control group or group 50TCID(50) and 100TCID(50) had pathological changes at 32 hours (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: Silicone oil has an antiviral function against HSV-1. The antiviral effect of silicone oil is correlated with concentration of virus.