A Functional Role for Neutralizing Antibodies in Borna Disease: Influence on Virus Tropism outside the Central Nervous System†

  1. T. Bilzer3,*
  1. Institut für Impfstoffe, Bundesforschungsanstalt für Viruskrankheiten der Tiere, Tübingen,1 and
  2. Institut für Neuropathologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Düsseldorf,3 Germany, and
  3. Laboratory for Neurovirology and Microbial Pathogenesis, University of California, Irvine, California2

ABSTRACT

Borna disease virus (BDV) is a negative-strand RNA virus that infects the central nervous systems (CNS) of warm-blooded animals and causes disturbances of movement and behavior. The basis for neurotropism remains poorly understood; however, the observation that the distribution of infectious virus in immunocompetent rats is different from that in immunoincompetent rats indicates a role for the immune system in BDV tropism: whereas in immunocompetent rats virus is restricted to the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, immunoincompetent rats also have virus in nonneural tissues. In an effort to examine the influence of the humoral immune response on BDV pathogenesis, we examined the effects of passive immunization with neutralizing antiserum in immunoincompetent rats. Serum transfer into immunoincompetent rats did not prevent persistent CNS infection but did result in restriction of virus to neural tissues. These results indicate that neutralizing antibodies may play a role in preventing generalized infection with BDV.

FOOTNOTES

    • Received 6 April 1998.
    • Accepted 13 July 1998.

  • ↵* Corresponding author. Mailing address for L. Stitz: Institut für Impfstoffe, Bundesforschungsanstalt für Viruskrankheiten der Tiere, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 28, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany. Phone: 49 7071 967 250. Fax: 49 7071 967 105. E-mail: stitz{at}tue.bfav.de. Mailing address for T. Bilzer: Institut für Neuropathologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Postfach 101007, 40001 Düsseldorf, Germany. Phone: 49 211 81 18658. Fax: 49 211 81 17804. E-mail: bilzer{at}uni-duesseldorf.de.

  • ↵† Dedicated to Professor V. ter Meulen on the occasion of his 65th birthday.

  • ↵‡ Present address: Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, Langen, Germany.

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  1. J. Virol. vol. 72 no. 11 8884-8892
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