Comparative study of virus and lymphocyte distribution with clinical data suggests early high dose immunosuppression as potential key factor for the therapy of patients with BoDV-1 infection

  • Borna disease virus 1 (BoDV-1) was just recently shown to cause predominantly fatal encephalitis in humans. Despite its rarity, bornavirus encephalitis (BVE) can be considered a model disease for encephalitic infections caused by neurotropic viruses and understanding its pathomechanism is of utmost relevance. Aim of this study was to compare the extent and distribution pattern of cerebral inflammation with the clinical course of disease, and individual therapeutic procedures. For this, autoptic brain material from seven patients with fatal BVE was included in this study. Tissue was stained immunohistochemically for pan-lymphocytic marker CD45, the nucleoprotein of BoDV-1, as well as glial marker GFAP and microglial marker Iba1. Sections were digitalized and counted for CD45-positive and BoDV-1-positive cells. For GFAP and Iba1, a semiquantitative score was determined. Furthermore, detailed information about the individual clinical course and therapy were retrieved and summarized in aBorna disease virus 1 (BoDV-1) was just recently shown to cause predominantly fatal encephalitis in humans. Despite its rarity, bornavirus encephalitis (BVE) can be considered a model disease for encephalitic infections caused by neurotropic viruses and understanding its pathomechanism is of utmost relevance. Aim of this study was to compare the extent and distribution pattern of cerebral inflammation with the clinical course of disease, and individual therapeutic procedures. For this, autoptic brain material from seven patients with fatal BVE was included in this study. Tissue was stained immunohistochemically for pan-lymphocytic marker CD45, the nucleoprotein of BoDV-1, as well as glial marker GFAP and microglial marker Iba1. Sections were digitalized and counted for CD45-positive and BoDV-1-positive cells. For GFAP and Iba1, a semiquantitative score was determined. Furthermore, detailed information about the individual clinical course and therapy were retrieved and summarized in a standardized way. Analysis of the distribution of lymphocytes shows interindividual patterns. In contrast, when looking at the BoDV-1-positive glial cells and neurons, a massive viral involvement in the brain stem was noticeable. Three of the seven patients received early high-dose steroids, which led to a significantly lower lymphocytic infiltration of the central nervous tissue and a longer survival compared to the patients who were treated with steroids later in the course of disease. This study highlights the potential importance of early high-dose immunosuppressive therapy in BVE. Our findings hint at a promising treatment option which should be corroborated in future observational or prospective therapy studies.show moreshow less

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Author:Yannik Vollmuth, Nicola Jungbäck, Tatiana Mögele, Friederike Schmidt-Graf, Silke Wunderlich, Mareike SchimmelORCiDGND, Camilla Rothe, Leonhard Stark, Jürgen Schlegel, Georg Rieder, Thomas Richter, Tina Schaller, Dennis Tappe, Bruno MärklORCiDGND, Kaspar Matiasek, Friederike Liesche-StarneckerORCiD
URN:urn:nbn:de:bvb:384-opus4-1134145
Frontdoor URLhttps://opus.bibliothek.uni-augsburg.de/opus4/113414
ISSN:2222-1751OPAC
Parent Title (English):Emerging Microbes & Infections
Publisher:Informa UK Limited
Type:Article
Language:English
Year of first Publication:2024
Publishing Institution:Universität Augsburg
Release Date:2024/06/08
Volume:13
Issue:1
First Page:2350168
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/22221751.2024.2350168
Institutes:Medizinische Fakultät
Medizinische Fakultät / Universitätsklinikum
Medizinische Fakultät / Lehrstuhl für Allgemeine und Spezielle Pathologie
Medizinische Fakultät / Lehrstuhl für Kinder- und Jugendmedizin
Dewey Decimal Classification:6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
Licence (German):CC-BY-NC 4.0: Creative Commons: Namensnennung - Nicht kommerziell (mit Print on Demand)