Jj. Hooks et al., RETINA AND RETINAL-PIGMENT EPITHELIAL-CELL AUTOANTIBODIES ARE PRODUCED DURING MURINE CORONAVIRUS RETINOPATHY, The Journal of immunology, 151(6), 1993, pp. 3381-3389
The murine coronavirus, mouse hepatitis virus (MHV), JHM strain, induc
es a biphasic retinal disease in adult BALB/c mice. In the early phase
of the disease, day 1 to 7, a retinal vasculitis is noted and is asso
ciated with the presence of virus particles. In the late phase of the
disease, day 10 to 140, a retinal degeneration is observed and is asso
ciated with the absence of both virus particles and inflammatory cells
. We show that the retinal degenerative process is also associated wit
h the presence of antiretinal autoantibodies. In total, 22 of 23 sera
collected from 10 to 70 days after JHM virus inoculation contained ant
iretinal autoantibodies. These autoantibodies are not found in sera fr
om normal or mock-injected mice. Antibodies to retinal tissue were ide
ntified as two distinct patterns of immunoperoxidase staining on froze
n sections of normal rat eyes, retinal autoantibodies and retinal pigm
ent epithelium (RPE) autoantibodies. The antiretinal autoantibodies fi
rst appeared as IgM class antibodies that shifted to IgG class autoant
ibodies. The anti-RPE cell autoantibodies were predominantly of the Ig
G class. Sera that were positive for these autoantibodies did not stai
n with liver or kidney sections but 2 of 3 did react with rat brain se
ctions. A second mouse strain, CD-1, was also evaluated because these
animals respond to JHM virus inoculation by developing only the early
phase of this disease, i.e. vasculitis. On day 10 postinoculation, the
retina architecture has a normal appearance. In these mice, which are
free of a retinal degeneration, antiretinal autoantibodies are not pr
oduced. However, just as is noted in the BALB/c mice, antivirus neutra
lizing antibodies are produced in the infected CD-1 mice. These findin
gs suggest a role for autoimmunity in the pathogenesis of murine coron
avirus induced retinal degeneration. This study establishes an animal
model for the study of humoral autoimmune responses in human retinal d
egenerations.