INTERLEUKIN-6 PRODUCTION BY BRAIN-TISSUE AND CULTURED ASTROCYTES INFECTED WITH THEILERS MURINE ENCEPHALOMYELITIS VIRUS

Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) is known to interact w ith cells of the central nervous system (CNS). Here we report that, in terestingly, it is a potent inductor of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the CN S of infected animals and in pure cultures of astrocytes. Maximal IL-6 gene transcription in glial cells, as detected by bioassay and ELISA, was observed at 6 and 24 h after infection. Astrocytes from both SJL/ J and Balb/c (strains of mice susceptible and resistant, respectively, to TMEV-induced demyelination) produced similar amounts of IL-6, meas ured in tissue culture supernatants. These results indicate that altho ugh an immunomodulatory effect can be exercised by IL-6 synthesized by astrocytes, it does not play a crucial role in immune-mediated demyel ination induced by TMEV. (C) 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.