Acute Rift Valley fever virus infection induces inflammatory cytokines and cell death in ex vivo rat brain slice culture.
J Gen Virol
; 105(3)2024 03.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38546100
ABSTRACT
Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is an emerging arboviral disease with pandemic potential. While infection is often self-limiting, a subset of individuals may develop late-onset encephalitis, accounting for up to 20â% of severe cases. Importantly, individuals displaying neurologic disease have up to a 53â% case fatality rate, yet the neuropathogenesis of RVFV infection remains understudied. In this study, we evaluated whether ex vivo postnatal rat brain slice cultures (BSCs) could be used to evaluate RVFV infection in the central nervous system. BSCs mounted an inflammatory response after slicing, which resolved over time, and they were viable in culture for at least 12 days. Infection of rat BSCs with pathogenic RVFV strain ZH501 induced tissue damage and apoptosis over 48 h. Viral replication in BSCs reached up to 1×107 p.f.u. equivalents/ml, depending on inoculation dose. Confocal immunofluorescent microscopy of cleared slices confirmed direct infection of neurons as well as activation of microglia and astrocytes. Further, RVFV-infected rat BSCs produced antiviral cytokines and chemokines, including MCP-1 and GRO/KC. This study demonstrates that rat BSCs support replication of RVFV for ex vivo studies of neuropathogenesis. This allows for continued and complementary investigation into RVFV infection in an ex vivo postnatal brain slice culture format.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Rift Valley Fever
/
Rift Valley fever virus
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
J Gen Virol
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Estados Unidos