Eleven isolates of varicella-zoster virus were tested for their effects on the incorporation of [14C]acetate into lipids in infected human embryonic lung cells. By relative percent, all virus isolates demonstrated a shift from polar lipid synthesis to neutral lipid, especially triglyceride, synthesis. By data expressed as counts per minute per microgram of protein, the VZV strains could be separated into two groups: those strains which depressed lipid synthesis and those strains which did not depress, and may even have stimulated, lipid, especially triglyceride, synthesis. These results may be useful in understanding the development of lipid changes seen in children affected with Reye's syndrome following chickenpox. The human herpesvirus varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is the etiologic agent for the childhood disease of chickenpox (varicella) and the recurrent disease shingles (zoster) (30). Although the disease is rarely life threatening in normal children, problems occur in children whose immune systems are compromised. Clinical trials of an attenuated virus vaccine in susceptible children with leukemia are in progress (15). A serious sequel of chickenpox in normal children is Reye's syndrome (23). Following apparent recovery from an initial viral illness (influenza B in epidemic cases, chickenpox in endemic cases [9]), the child develops the symptoms of Reye's syndrome: projectile vomiting, cerebral edema, and fatty infiltration of the viscera. At the present time, there is no accepted mechanism to explain this syndrome, although several hypotheses have been proposed. Since Reye's syndrome can follow chickenpox and involves changes in lipid metabolism in the affected child, we examined the effects of various isolates of VZV on the lipid metabolism of infected human cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS Cell cultures. The MRC-5 line of human embryonic lung cells, obtained from Whittaker M. A. Bioproducts, Walkersville, Md., was grown and maintained in Eagle minimal essential medium supplemented with 5% fetal bovine serum, 5% newborn calf serum, 0.2% NaHCO3, 100 U of penicillin per ml, and 100 jig of streptomycin per ml (GIBCO Laboratories, Grand Island, N.Y.). Viruses. Eleven strains of VZV were used in these studies. Four strains were obtained from P. Brunell, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio: Ellen (EL), Lozano 26 (L26), Lozano 28 (L28), and Gretchen (GR). Two strains were obtained from S. Strauss and J. Ostrove at the National Institutes of Health: D. Luzak (DL) and Oka (OB). Five strains were isolated from clinical specimens in our laboratory: PVWT (PV), HSWT (HS), LCWT (LC), WT1 (WT), and JBWT (JB). Viruses were tested between passages 3 and 14. All virus strains were maintained as cellassociated virus in MRC-5 cells. Virus stocks were stored at-85°C. Initial studies determined that there was no signifi-* Corresponding author.