Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common demyelinating condition of
the central nervous system (CNS), resulting in paralysis and death. The etiology
of MS is unknown. However, genetics, exposure to a pathogen, psychological
stress and gender are all implicated in the onset and progression of the disease.
An animal model of MS, Theilers virus (TMEV) infection, causes a biphasic
disease. An early CNS viral infection, if allowed to persist within the CNS, is
followed by a chronic CNS autoimmune demyelinating condition that is similar
to MS. The development of Theilers Virus Induced Demyelination (TVID) is
under genetic control: SJL mice are highly susceptible to viral persistence and
TVID while CBA mice have an intermediate susceptibility. Chronic restraint
stress (RST) administered during the first four weeks of TMEV infection
influenced the subsequent development of TVID differentially across strain and
sex of mice. TVID was exacerbated by RST in male and female SJL mice, but in
the CBA strain, TVID was alleviated by RST in male mice only. This pattern of
results in SJL and CBA mice could be seen in the chronic phase of TVID on
multiple dependent measures: body weights, behavioral signs of the chronic
phase, rotarod performance (an automated measure of motor abilities), and
inflammation, demyelination, and axonal loss within the spinal cord. The
exacerbation of TVID in SJL mice provides some of the first experimental
evidence that coincides with reports of stress precipitating the onset of MS in
human patients. The sex dependent alleviation of TVID in CBA mice illustrates
the complex interaction between genetic predisposition, gender, stress, and
exposure to a pathogen that has been proposed for the development of MS.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/1558 |
| Date | 17 February 2005 |
| Creators | Sieve, Amy Nicole |
| Contributors | Meagher, Mary |
| Publisher | Texas A&M University |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | 4851088 bytes, electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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