Viruses, Vol. 13, Pages 665: Immunological Responses to Seoul Orthohantavirus in Experimentally and Naturally Infected Brown Rats (Rattus norvegicus)

Viruses, Vol. 13, Pages 665: Immunological Responses to Seoul Orthohantavirus in Experimentally and Naturally Infected Brown Rats (Rattus norvegicus) Viruses doi: 10.3390/v13040665 Authors: Shumpei P. Yasuda Kenta Shimizu Takaaki Koma Nguyen Thuy Hoa Mai Quynh Le Zhuoxing Wei Devinda S. Muthusinghe Sithumini M. W. Lokupathirage Futoshi Hasebe Tetsu Yamashiro Jiro Arikawa Kumiko Yoshimatsu To clarify the mechanism of Seoul orthohantavirus (SEOV) persistence, we compared the humoral and cell-mediated immune responses to SEOV in experimentally and naturally infected brown rats. Rats that were experimentally infected by the intraperitoneal route showed transient immunoglobulin M (IgM) production, followed by an increased anti-SEOV immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody response and maturation of IgG avidity. The level of SEOV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) peaked at 6 days after inoculation and the viral genome disappeared from serum. In contrast, naturally infected brown rats simultaneously had a high rate of SEOV-specific IgM and IgG antibodies (28/43). Most of the IgM-positive rats (24/27) had the SEOV genome in their lungs, suggesting that chronic SEOV infection was established in those rats. In female rats with IgG avidity maturation, the viral load in the lungs was decreased. On the other hand, there was no relationship between IgG avidity and viral load in the lungs in male rats. A CTL response was not detected in naturally infected rats. Th...
Source: Viruses - Category: Virology Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research