HOST IMMUNE-RESPONSE TO VESICULAR STOMATITIS-VIRUS INFECTION OF THE CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM IN C57BL 6 MICE/

In this report, the kinetics of cellular inflammatory changes in the b rains of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV)-infected C57BL/6 (B6) mice w as determined. The behavior and survival rate of infected B6 were care fully monitored each day, Infectious viral titers and VSV antigen dist ribution were determined at several time points during the course of i nfection, Strong activation of both astrocytes and microglia was obser ved after VSV infection, Induction of type II nitric oxide synthase (i NOS) was detected in activated microglia in the olfactory bulb (OB) st arting at day 4 postinfection, Induced expression of major histocompat ibility complex (MHC) molecules and rapid infiltration of both T cells and natural killer (NK) cells were detected in the VSV-infected CNS, Collectively, these data indicate that the response to CNS infection i n B6 mice, which is often primarily Th1 in characteristics, is compara ble to BALB/c mice, a strain that often shows a Th2-dominated immune r esponse.