SHORT COMMUNICATION: Effects of Sodium Butyrate on a Human Lymphoblastoid Cell Line (Namalwa) and its Interferon Production

Treatment of lymphoblastoid cells with sodium butyrate before infection with Sendai virus increases the subsequent yield of interferon and of its messenger RNA. This treatment caused almost complete inhibition of cellular DNA synthesis and consequently cell division, and some inhibition of cellular RNA and protein synthesis. It also caused increased acetylation of histones and alterations in the plasma membrane. There was no decrease in cell viability or change in cell morphology but the cells were smaller than untreated cells and were all in the G1 phase. Sodium butyrate treatment had no effect on the course of Sendai virus infections. The observed increase in interferon yields after butyrate treatment did not correlate with its effects on DNA synthesis, size, cell division and histone acetylation, but did with its effects on RNA and protein synthesis.