Effect of progesterone on the replication of herpes simplex virus type 2 in vitro.

This project involved an investigation into the effect of progesterone on the replication of Herpes simplex virus Type 2 in a Vero-cell culture. The first part of the experiment relates to preincubation of the cells with progesterone in the duration of 48 hours. After innoculation, replication of the virus was continued in the presence of progesterone. Samples for titration were taken 10, 21 and 32 hours after innoculation for the purpose of determining the single-cycle replication curve of Herpes simplex virus Type 2 in the presence of this hormone. An identical procedure was followed in the control part of the experiment though without using progesterone. The results thus obtained show that there is no significant difference in the production of infectious particles of Herpes simplex virus Type 2 in one cycle on making a comparison between different experimental conditions (presence and absence of progesterone).