title: Cortical cholinergic decline parallels the progression of Borna virus encephalitis.
abstract: Borna disease virus (BDV)-induced meningoencephalitis is associated with the dysfunction of the cholinergic system. Temporal development of this cholinergic decline during pre-encephalitic and encephalitic stages of BDV infection remains however elusive. Changes in choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activities were therefore determined in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, striatum, amygdala and cholinergic basal forebrain nuclei (ChBFN) of rats infected with BDV. Immunocytochemistry for ChAT and vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) was employed to identify morphological consequences of BDV infection on cholinergic neurons. Whereas both ChAT and AChE activities changed only slightly under pre-encephalitic conditions, the encephalitic stage was characterized by a significant decrease of ChAT activity in the cerebral cortex, horizontal diagonal band of Broca (hDBB), hippocampus and amygdala concomitant with a marked reduction of AChE activity in the cerebral cortex, hDBB and hippocampus. The striatum and medial septum remained unaffected. ChAT and VAChT immunocytochemistry revealed prominent axonal degeneration in affected cortical and limbic projection areas of ChBFN. In summary, our data indicate progressive deterioration of forebrain cholinergic systems that parallels the progression of BDV encephalitis.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuropathology, and 2C. and O. Vogt Institute for Brain Research, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Gies
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Görcs
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mulder
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Planz
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Stitz
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bilzer
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Luiten
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Harkany
mesh_terms: D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000378:metabolism*; D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001890:Borna Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D028981:Bornaviridae / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism; D002799:Cholinergic Fibers / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D018450:Disease Progression; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000276:immunology; D018792:Encephalitis, Viral / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D018701:Mononegavirales Infections / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D016548:Prosencephalon / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D050494:Vesicular Acetylcholine Transport Proteins; D033921:Vesicular Transport Proteins
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; C493461:Slc18a3 protein, rat; D050494:Vesicular Acetylcholine Transport Proteins; D033921:Vesicular Transport Proteins; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase; D000110:Acetylcholinesterase; D000109:Acetylcholine