The effects of psychological stress on an animal model of multiple sclerosis, Theiler's virus induced demyelination
Year: 2005
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common demyelinating condition of \nthe central nervous system (CNS), resulting in paralysis and death. The etiology \nof MS is unknown. However, genetics, exposure to a pathogen, psychological \nstress and gender are all implicated in the onset and progression of the disease. \nAn animal model of MS, Theilers virus (TMEV) infection, causes a biphasic \ndisease. An early CNS viral infection, if allowed to persist within the CNS, is \nfollowed by a chronic CNS autoimmune demyelinating condition that is similar \nto MS. The development of Theilers Virus Induced Demyelination (TVID) is \nunder genetic control: SJL mice are highly susceptible to viral persistence and \nTVID while CBA mice have an intermediate susceptibility. Chronic restraint \nstress (RST) administered during the first four weeks of TMEV infection \ninfluenced the subsequent development of TVID differentially across strain and \nsex of mice. TVID was exacerbated by RST in male and female SJL mice, but in \nthe CBA strain, TVID was alleviated by RST in male mice only. This pattern of \nresults in SJL and CBA mice could be seen in the chronic phase of TVID on \nmultiple dependent measures: body weights, behavioral signs of the chronic \nphase, rotarod performance (an automated measure of motor abilities), and \ninflammation, demyelination, and axonal loss within the spinal cord. The \nexacerbation of TVID in SJL mice provides some of the first experimental \nevidence that coincides with reports of stress precipitating the onset of MS in \nhuman patients. The sex dependent alleviation of TVID in CBA mice illustrates \nthe complex interaction between genetic predisposition, gender, stress, and \nexposure to a pathogen that has been proposed for the development of MS.
Author: Amy N. Sieve
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Neurology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2299448438