The proposed research will examine the actions of inhalational anesthetics on the biology and biochemistry on viruses both in vivo and in vitro. Measles virus, herpes simplex virus, and poliovirus will be grown in tissue culture and exposed to various inhalational anesthetics. The mechanism by which the anesthetics affect virus replication will be investigated. This will be done by analyzing virus nucleic acid and protein synthesis as well as virus assembly during exposure of the infected cultures to anesthetics. Since clinical anesthesia is reversed by hyperbaric pressure in vivo, any proposed theory of anesthesia at the molecular level must take into account this observation. We have identified a system using measles virus membrane proteins which are inhibited by inhalational anesthetic exposure. This inhibition is reversed under hyperbaric conditions, therefore, these studies will help gain knowledge into the molecular mechanism of action of anesthetic agents. The results obtained in vitro will be correlated with the in vivo study and involve the examination of patients who have upper respiratory tract infections and are undergoing anesthesia and surgery for myringotomy and tympanostomy tube placement.
