ABSTRACT
As we are approaching the global eradication of wild poliovirus, laboratory surveillance of poliovirus by the gold standard cell culture method becomes increasingly important. As there is a lot of concern about accurate and sensitive detection of imported wild and Vaccine Derived Polioviruses [VDPVs] in Polio-Free countries, in this study we assessed and compared the sensitivity of the cell lines used in polio laboratory simultaneously to standard poliovirus and Oral Polio Vaccine [OPV] polioviruses, to ensure the accurate detection of circulating and imported polioviruses in the society. Cell sensitivity test was performed according to the World Health Organization [WHO], Polio Laboratory Manual for RD, L20B and Hep2 cell lines using 3 serotypes of standard monovalent and OPV polioviruses. The test was repeated every four passages for all cell lines. The sensitivity of L20B and Hep2 cell lines for standard poliovirus type 1 and 2 is more than sensitivity for the same types of OPV virus but for poliovirus type 3 it is vice versa. Also RD cell line is more sensitive to all 3 types of OPV virus. In addition, the test showed that increasing the passage number will decrease the sensitivity of all cell lines. Using RD and L20B cell lines simultaneously [with low passage number] will assure us of sensitivity and accuracy of the cell lines for detection of circulating and imported polioviruses