Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria (Apr 2011)

Role of IL-4 in an experimental model of encephalitis induced by intracranial inoculation of herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1)

  • Márcia Carvalho Vilela,
  • Roberta Dayrell de Lima Campos,
  • Daniel Santos Mansur,
  • David Henrique Rodrigues,
  • Norinne Lacerda Queiroz,
  • Graciela Kunrath Lima,
  • Milene Alvarenga Rachid,
  • Erna Geessien Kroon,
  • Marco Antônio Campos,
  • Antônio Lúcio Teixeira

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0004-282X2011000200019
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 69, no. 2a
pp. 237 – 241

Abstract

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Herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) is a pathogen that may cause severe encephalitis in humans. In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of interleukin-4 (IL-4) in a model of HSV-1 brain infection. IL-4 knockout (IL-4-/-) and wild type (WT) C57BL/6 mice were inoculated with 10(4) plaque-forming units of HSV-1 by the intracranial route. Histopathologic analysis revealed a distinct profile of infiltrating cells at 3 days post-infection (dpi). Infected WT mice presented mononuclear inflammatory cells while IL-4-/- mice developed meningoencephalitis with predominance of neutrophils. IL-4-/- mice had diminished leukocyte adhesion at 3 dpi when compared to infected WT animals in intravital microscopy study. Conversely no differences were found in cerebral levels of CXCL1, CXCL9, CCL3, CCL5 and TNF-α between WT and IL-4-/- infected mice. IL-4 may play a role in the recruitment of cells into central nervous system in this acute model of severe encephalitis caused by HSV-1.

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