A FUNCTIONAL-ROLE FOR NEUTRALIZING ANTIBODIES IN BORNA-DISEASE - INFLUENCE ON VIRUS TROPISM OUTSIDE THE CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM

Borma disease virus (BDV) is a negative-strand RNA virus that infects the central nervous systems (CNS) of warm-blooded animals and causes d isturbances of movement and behavior. The basis for neurotropism remai ns poorly understood; however, the observation that the distribution o f infectious virus in immunocompetent rats is different from that in i mmunoincompetent rats indicates a role for the immune system in BDV tr opism: whereas in immunocompetent rats vines is restricted to the cent ral, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, immunoincompetent rats also have virus in nonneural tissues. In an effort to examine the inf luence of the humoral immune response on BDV pathogenesis, we examined the effects of passive immunization with neutralizing antiserum in im munoincompetent rats. Serum transfer into immunoincompetent rats did n ot prevent persistent CNS infection hut did result its restriction of virus to neural tissues. These results indicate that neutralizing anti bodies may play a role In preventing generalized infection with BDV.