Tumor necrosis factor alpha is not a pathogenic determinant in acute lethal encephalitis induced by a highly neurovirulent strain of mouse hepatitis virus.
To investigate the role of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) in the pathogenesis of acute viral encephalitis, TNFalpha-deficient mice were infected with a highly neurovirulent strain of mouse hepatitis virus, JHM, and compared with JHM-infected C57BL/6 mice as controls. All the JHM-infected mice had succumbed to infection by 6 days postinfection. The virus replication kinetics, histopathological changes and mRNA expression levels of proinflammatory cytokines in the brain did not differ between TNFalpha-deficient and control C57BL/6 mice. These results suggest that TNFalpha is not a pathogenic determinant in JHM-induced acute lethal encephalitis.
Shirato
Kazuya
K
Laboratory of Veterinary Microbiology, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Tokyo, 183-8509, Japan.
Momotani
Eiichi
E
Takata
Masuhiro
M
Sekikawa
Kenji
K
Taniguchi
Takahide
T
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D018352:Coronavirus Infections / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D018792:Encephalitis, Viral / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D018390:Gene Targeting; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D006517:Murine hepatitis virus / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha