Viral infection of developing GABAergic neurons in a model of hippocampal disinhibition

Mechanisms by which perinatal viral infections can disrupt hippocampal deve lopment and cause selective neuronal death may have implications for tempor al lobe epilepsy and schizophrenia. Despite abnormalities of inhibitory int erneurons in these diseases, the causal relationships between such neurotra nsmitter changes and viral infections remain unclear. This relationship was examined in a model in which rats, infected with lymphocytic choriomeningi tis virus (LCMV) as neonates, manifest a gradual loss of hippocampal dentat e granule cells and neuronal hyperexcitability. The current data demonstrat e that GABAergic interneurons are dual immunostained for LCMV antigens prio r to the loss of dentate granule cells, supporting the hypothesis that LCMV may disrupt developing inhibitory circuits causing unbalanced excitatory n eurotransmission and the eventual death of dentate granule cells due to exc itotoxicity. NeuroReport 11:2433-2438 (C) 2000 Lippincott Williams & Wilkin s.