engleski

Maternal seropositivity influences the course of MCMV infection in newborn mice

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the most frequent cause of congenital viral infections of the central nervous system (CNS) and consequent neurological sequelae. Although it is generally accepted that maternal preconceptual immunity protects the fetus from transplacental virus transmission and infection, recent data show that the presence of HCMV-specific antibodies in sera of pregnant women does not provide complete protection from congenital infection of infants and developing neurological impairments. Infection in this setting is most probably related to reinfection of seropostive women with different HCMV strains. Mouse model of infection of newborn mice with murine CMV (MCMV) closely resembles the effects of HCMV infection in developing brain. Infected newborn mice develop productive infection in the CNS coupled with wide spread encephalitis. Consequently, these mice present with severe developmental abnormalities of the cerebellum which result in long term hearing loss and motor deficits. While passive immunization of infected newborn mice with virus specific antibodies has protective effect on the MCMV infection in newborn mouse brain and improves postnatal cerebellum development, data arguing for the role of maternal preconceptual immunity on the rate of MCMV infection in newborn mice are still insufficient. The aim of this study was to analyze the role of maternal MCMV-specific immunity in the course of MCMV infection in newborn mice. Mice born from seropositive mothers were infected with wild type MCMV, sacrificed at indicated days and their organs were processed for further analysis. The results show that mice born from seropositve mothers had reduced amount of infection and decreased inflammatory response in several organs, including the brain. As a result, these mice had less pronounced developmental abnormalities of the cerebellum. This argues for the protective role of maternal preconceptual immunitiy on the course of MCMV infection in newborn mice.

MCMV infection; maternal seropositivity; developmental abnormalities; cerebellum

nije evidentirano