In vitro Inhibition of Infectivity of Polio Viruses by Guanidine

THE presence of a guanidine moiety in a number of antiviral drugs 1–5 prompted us to investigate whether some simple guanidine derivatives may reduce the infectivity of viruses for cultured mammalian cells. The following compounds were examined: guanidine hydrochloride, aminoguanidine bicarbonate, creatine hydrate, arginine, uridine, urea, thiourea, decyl- and dodecyl- bis -guanidine, N,N ′- bis (beta-hydroxyethyl)biguanide. The chemicals dissolved in water were boiled for about 15 min. and then added to the culture media.