title: Murine gammaherpesvirus-induced splenomegaly: a critical role for CD4 T cells.
abstract: Murine gammaherpesvirus (MHV-68) causes an acute respiratory infection followed by a latent infection in B lymphocytes. In the first 2-3 weeks after infection mice develop a marked splenomegaly, where the spleen cell number increases by 2-3 fold. Cytofluorimetric analysis during splenomegaly revealed an increase in numbers of B lymphocytes and of both CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. The largest increase relative to uninfected spleens was in the CD8+ population. The number of latently infected cells in the spleen peaked at day 10 post-intraperitoneal infection, then declined to 1/10(6)-1/10(7) cells per spleen. Depletion of CD4+ T lymphocytes prevented the splenomegaly and greatly reduced the peak infective centre level, while having no effect on the long-term of latently infected cells. Given the similarity between MHV-68-induced splenomegaly and Epstein-Barr virus-induced infectious mononucleosis, these data highlight the usefulness of MHV-68 as a mouse model for the study of gammaherpesvirus immunology and pathobiology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathology, University of Edinburgh, UK. EJU@labO.vet.ed.ac.uk
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Usherwood
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Nash
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D018142:Gammaherpesvirinae / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008212:Lymphocyte Depletion; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D013163:Splenomegaly / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D017735:Virus Latency