Journal of virology
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Journal of virology · Feb 1995
Immunopathogenic role of T-cell subsets in Borna disease virus-induced progressive encephalitis.
Borna disease is an immunopathological virus-induced encephalopathy comprising severe inflammation and degenerative brain cell lesions which results in organ atrophy and chronic debility in rats. CD4+ and CD8+ T cells have been reported to be involved in the development of this disease of the central nervous system. A virus-specific homogeneous T-cell line, established in vitro after immunization of rats with the recombinant 24-kDa virus-specific protein, showed antigen-specific proliferation in the presence of the 24-kDa but not the 38-kDa Borna disease virus-specific protein, another major virus-specific antigen. ⋯ However, recipient rats treated with antibodies against CD8+ T cells developed neither encephalitis nor disease. Therefore, CD4+ T cells appear to accumulate in the brain and cause perivascular inflammatory lesions which alone obviously do not cause disease. In contrast, the presence of CD8+ cells apparently directly correlates with the development of neurological symptoms.