title: Detection of tick-borne encephalitis virus by sample transfer, plaque assay and strand-specific reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction: what do we detect?
abstract: Experimental inoculation of mice provides a well characterized model for studying infection with tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), a flavivirus pathogenic for humans. Conflicting data on the kinetics of viremia and the development of virus titers in the brain, however, were only recently shown to have resulted from the use of assay systems with different levels of sensitivity in the titration of TBEV, i.e. plaque assay or sample transfer into naive recipient mice. Theoretically, RT-PCR could extend further the detectability to antibody-neutralized virus and when undertaken strand-specifically discriminate active replication from the mere presence of TBEV. We have compared the conventional methods for detection of TBEV with a newly devised RT-PCR method. As expected, RT-PCR, in contrast to the infectivity assays, detected antibody-neutralized virus. Furthermore, the mere presence or active replication of the virus could be differentiated by strand-specific RT-PCR. Plaque assay and sample transfer, in contrast, both detected only infectious virus. However, whereas sample transfer provides higher sensitivity for detection of TBEV from solid organs, the plaque assay is less costly and considering animals welfare more convenient. Thus, the newly devised method may allow the resolution of unanswered questions, while both the traditional infectivity assays retain their benefits in certain situations.
authors.affiliation: IMMUNO AG, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: T R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Kreil
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Burger
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Attakpah
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Mannhalter
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Eibl
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D004669:Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014709:Vero Cells; D010948:Viral Plaque Assay
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase