Glucocorticoid exposure alters the pathogenesis of Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus during acute infection.
Previous research has shown that chronic restraint stress exacerbates Theiler's virus infection, a murine model for CNS inflammation and multiple sclerosis. The current set of experiments was designed to evaluate the potential role of glucocorticoids in the deleterious effects of restraint stress on acute CNS inflammatory disease. Exposure to chronic restraint stress resulted in elevated levels of corticosterone as well as increased clinical scores and weight loss (Experiment 1). In addition, corticosterone administration alone exacerbated behavioral signs of TMEV-induced sickness (i.e. decreased body weight, increased symptoms of encephalitis, and increased mortality) and reduced inflammation in the CNS (Experiment 2). Infected subjects receiving exogenous corticosterone showed exacerbation of acute phase measures of sickness and severe mortality as well as decreased viral clearance from CNS (Experiment 3). These findings indicate that corticosterone exposure alone is sufficient to exacerbate acute CNS inflammatory disease.
Department of Psychology Texas A&M University Mailstop 4235, College Station, TX 77843, United States. e-young@tamu.edu
Erin E
EE
Young
Thomas W
TW
Prentice
Danielle
D
Satterlee
Heath
H
McCullough
Amy N
AN
Sieve
Robin R
RR
Johnson
Thomas H
TH
Welsh
C Jane R
CJ
Welsh
Mary W
MW
Meagher
D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D018188:Cardiovirus Infections / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008581:Meningitis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D051379:Mice; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D009026:Mortality; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology; D016019:Survival Analysis; D017945:Theilovirus / Q000472:pathogenicity*
D005938:Glucocorticoids