Characterization of astroglial dysfunction following feline immunodeficiency viral infection /
Lentiviruses including HIV and FIV are able to efficiently
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
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[Place of publication not identified] :
[publisher not identified] ;
1997.
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| Online Access: | http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=736580661&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=2945&RQT=309&VName=PQD |
| Summary: | Lentiviruses including HIV and FIV are able to efficiently enter the central nervous system (CNS) and cause primary neurological disease that is not attributable to opportunistic infections or systemic disease. Although a substantial degree of neuronal loss can occur in the cortex of HIV- or FIV-infected patients, most studies agree that neurons are not infected and indirect mechanisms of neurotoxicity are postulated. Target cells for FIV in the brain are similar to those observed in HIV infection, i.e., both viruses infecting astrocytes and microglia. The importance of asttoglia in the maintenance of CNS functions suggests that virally induced changes in infected astroglia may be essential in the progression of lentivirus-associated neurologic disease. This dissertation describes a model system that was developed to study the effects of two divergent FIV strains on astroglia in vitro. Effects of astroglial infection by the nonneurovirulent Petaluma strain of FIV (FIV-Pet) and the highly neurovirulent Maryland Strain of FIV (FIV-MD) were compared. Astroglia were readily infected by FIV-Pet and this infection was productive with high titers of virus being produced by infected cells within several days of infection. In contrast, astroglial infection by FIV-MD could only be accomplished by lymphocyte facilitation and was nonproductive. Results of assays examining the cytotoxic potential of these viruses suggest that FIV-Pet infection of astroglia seems to be much more cytotoxic than FIV-MD. Further, FIV-Pet causes a much more profound decrease in astroglial glutamate uptake than does FIV-MD. The results of this study suggest that the differences in neurovirulence observed in vivo may relate to specific differences in the mechanism of astroghal infection, viral expression, tendency to cause cytotoxicity, and ability to cause alteration of astroglial function. Although these in vitro results may seem contradictory to that expected initially, these results may actually correlate well with the paradoxical nature of CNS lesions and clinical neurological symptomatology associated with these viral strains. |
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| Item Description: | Vita. "Major Subject: Veterinary Anatomy". |
| Physical Description: | xiii, 101 leaves : illustrations ; 28 cm. Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilms Inc. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references: pages 88-100. |