title: The association of viral activation with penicillin toxicity in guinea pigs and hamsters.
abstract: PENICILLIN TOXICITY IN THE GUINEA PIG MAY BE MANIFESTED IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT WAYS, AND IT IS PROPOSED THAT THESE TOXIC EFFECTS BE CATEGORIZED INTO THREE SYNDROMES: (1) toxic syndrome, characterized by acute fatal illness; (2) hemorrhagic syndrome, characterized by delayed illness with leukopenia and thrombocytopenia, and culminating in massive visceral hemorrhages; (3) chronic syndrome, characterized by retardation of growth and alopecia, a condition somewhat resembling "runt disease." A virus having some of the properties of a parvovirus has been isolated repeatedly from animals ill or dying of penicillin-induced disease. This finding has been construed as being activation of a latent virus by this antibiotic, but the relationship, if any, of the phenomenon of viral activation to the syndromes produced by penicillin and its frequent lethal toxicity is unknown. That a strong association exists, however, has been established. Of some 60 guinea pigs which received injections of penicillin three developed tumors and four others were found to have gallstones. A virus similar or identical to the guinea pig virus also has been isolated from hamsters dying of penicillin-induced disease. It is hypothesized that the absorption of endotoxin, resulting from the well known change in intestinal flora caused by penicillin, produces a state of immunodeficiency which regularly gives rise to activation of a latent virus, and perhaps, rarely, to the development of malignant neoplasms.
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D002769:Cholelithiasis / Q000139:chemically induced; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006224:Cricetinae; D046508:Culture Techniques; D003588:Cytopathogenic Effect, Viral; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004751:Enteritis / Q000139:chemically induced; D005260:Female; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006382:Hemadsorption; D006384:Hemagglutination; D006385:Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests; D006461:Hemolysis; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000139:chemically induced; D007414:Intestinal Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced; D007970:Leukopenia / Q000139:chemically induced; D008297:Male; D008851:Micropore Filters; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D010264:Paraplegia / Q000139:chemically induced; D010321:Parvoviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010400:Penicillin G / Q000633:toxicity*; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000139:chemically induced; D013577:Syndrome; D014776:Virus Cultivation; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000209:etiology*
chemical_list: D010400:Penicillin G