Viral infection of developing GABAergic neurons in a model of hippocampal disinhibition.
Mechanisms by which perinatal viral infections can disrupt hippocampal development and cause selective neuronal death may have implications for temporal lobe epilepsy and schizophrenia. Despite abnormalities of inhibitory interneurons in these diseases, the causal relationships between such neurotransmitter changes and viral infections remain unclear. This relationship was examined in a model in which rats, infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) as neonates, manifest a gradual loss of hippocampal dentate granule cells and neuronal hyperexcitability. The current data demonstrate that GABAergic interneurons are dual immunostained for LCMV antigens prior to the loss of dentate granule cells, supporting the hypothesis that LCMV may disrupt developing inhibitory circuits causing unbalanced excitatory neurotransmission and the eventual death of dentate granule cells due to excitotoxicity.
Pearce
B D
BD
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
Valadi
N M
NM
Po
C L
CL
Miller
A H
AH
D000818:Animals; D020805:Central Nervous System Viral Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology; D018891:Dentate Gyrus / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology*; D007395:Interneurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D008216:Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology; D008217:Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus / Q000502:physiology; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000378:metabolism*
D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid