Study of early stages of the pathogenesis of scrapie in experimentally infected mice.
Virological, histological, and electron microscopic methods were used to study the early manifestations of infection in brains and spleens of mice experimentally infected with the scrapie agent. A statistically significant increase in the spleen weight was demonstrated during the incubation period; this occurred only after intracerebral (i.c.) inoculation of the scrapie-containing brain suspensions and subcutaneous (s.c.) inoculation of the scrapie-containing spleen suspensions. No differences were observed between the scrapie agents replicating in the brain or spleen. In the brain at early stages of the incubation period, ultrastructural changes were observed in pre- and post-synaptic areas. The importance of these findings for understanding of the pathogenesis of subacute transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (STSE) is discussed.
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D011328:Prions / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012608:Scrapie / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D012756:Sheep; D013154:Spleen / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D014779:Virus Replication
D011328:Prions