title: Effects of immunosuppression on West Nile virus infection in hamsters.
abstract: A research study, comparing the pathogenesis of experimental West Nile virus (WNV) infection in immunocompetent and immunosuppressed golden hamsters, is described. Cyclophosphamide was used to immunosuppress the animals. The immunosuppressed hamsters had a prolonged period of viremia, depressed humoral immune response, more extensive and severe pathology, and higher fatality rate than the untreated immunocompetent animals. Histopathological and immunohistochemical studies of tissues from the two groups showed that pathologic changes in the untreated infected animals were confined to the brain and spinal cord, whereas the histopathological changes and WNV antigen distribution in the immunosuppressed animals were much more extensive and diffuse, involving the adrenal, kidney, heart and lung, and brain and spinal cord. Results of this study in the hamster model provide insight into the increased severity of WNV infection observed in immunosuppressed people.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, 77555-0609, USA.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mateo
authors.forename: Shu-Yuan
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Hilda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guzman
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.forename: Amelia P A Travassos
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Da Rosa
authors.forename: Robert B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Tesh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000187:drug effects; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D001773:Blood Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D006224:Cricetinae; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D007121:Immunocompetence; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008647:Mesocricetus; D011897:Random Allocation; D014709:Vero Cells; D014901:West Nile Fever / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity*
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D003520:Cyclophosphamide