title: Increased uric acid in the developing brain and spinal cord following cytomegalovirus infection.
abstract: Tissue concentrations of uric acid were determined in the spinal cord, cerebellum, caudate-putamen, and cerebral cortex of developing mice following intraventricular inoculation with murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) on postnatal day 10. Transient signs of neurological impairment were observed in MCMV-infected animals beginning on days 13-16 and continuing until days 19-21. At the onset of neurological impairment, uric acid concentrations in tissues from infected animals were 17-60-fold greater than in control animals. On postnatal day 70, 60 days after inoculation and 40 days after resolution of neurological signs, uric acid levels were still two- to threefold greater in infected animals. Histological examination revealed signs of focal ischemia in the cerebral and cerebellar cortices of MCMV-infected mice only at the onset of neurological impairment, with ischemic cell changes in some pyramidal neurons of the cerebral cortex. These results indicate that uric acid may be a sensitive marker of persistent vascular pathology resulting from cytomegalovirus infection of the developing nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Boyes
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: E G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: McGeer
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: O'Kusky
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009928:Organ Specificity; D012016:Reference Values; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D014527:Uric Acid / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014527:Uric Acid