Virus Inhibitory Activity of Polyvinylamine.∗

Summary A comparative study of the virus inhibitory efficacy of the synthetic basic polypeptide, polylysine, and the synthetic basic polymer, polyvinylamine, revealed that both polymers inhibited the production of influenza B virus in the chick embryo. Polyvinylamine had a sparing effect on chick embryos infected with Newcastle disease virus and as little as 40 μg inhibited the multiplication of mumps virus. A comparison with the results of previous studies with polylysine revealed that the polypeptide was more effective than polyvinylamine as a virus inhibitor. It appears probable that the essential feature of this type of virus inhibitor is that it be a basic polyelectrolyte and that a polypeptide backbone may not be essential for activity.