Fig. 5

Intranasal IFNα delays morbidity and promotes survival during VEEV infection by suppressing onset of nasal and CNS infection. A Survival curves, weight loss curves, and encephalitis scores of mice co-administered single-dose intranasal IFNα during ZPC-738 (10 pfu) infection (N = 15–20 mice from two independent infections). B Survival curves, weight loss curves, and encephalitis scores of mice administered single-dose intranasal IFNα 1 or 3 h post-infection with VEEV–ZPC-738 (10 pfu) (N = 5). C Viral titers, as measured by plaque assay, from olfactory bulb, cortex, and sera collected at various DPI from mice co-administered intranasal IFNα during ZPC-738 (10 pfu) infection (N = 6). D Immunostaining of intranasal VEEV–ZPC–GFP infection (50 pfu, 3dpi) of sagittal sectioned nasal cavity and forebrain (representative example for N = 3 mice). E Viral titers from nasal cavity, olfactory bulb, and sera at various DPI to following intranasal IFNα administered 1 h following ZPC-738 (10 pfu) infection (N = 5–6). Weight loss, encephalitic sequelae scores, and titers were compared via two-way repeated measure ANOVA, followed by Bonferroni’s post hoc test. Survival curves were analyzed by Mantel–Cox test. Statistical values are indicated as follows *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001 unless otherwise stated