| First Author | Godfraind C | Year | 1995 |
| Journal | J Virol | Volume | 69 |
| Issue | 10 | Pages | 6541-7 |
| PubMed ID | 7666556 | Mgi Jnum | J:28748 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:76290 | Doi | 10.1128/jvi.69.10.6541-6547.1995 |
| Citation | Godfraind C, et al. (1995) Thymus involution induced by mouse hepatitis virus A59 in BALB/c mice. J Virol 69(10):6541-7 |
| abstractText | Mouse hepatitis virus A59 (MHV-A59) infection of adult BALB/c mice induced a severe, transient atrophy of the thymus. The effect was maximal at 1 week after infection, and thymuses returned to normal size by 2 weeks after infection. There was no effect of glucocorticoids, since thymus atrophy was also found in adrenalectomized, infected mice. In infected thymus, immature CD4+ CD8+ lymphocytes were selectively depleted, and apoptosis of lymphocytes was increased. The MHV receptor glycoprotein MHVR was detected on thymus epithelial cells but not on T lymphocytes. In a small number of stromal epithelial cells, but in very few lymphocytes, the viral genome was detectable by in situ hybridization. These observations suggested that MHV-A59-induced thymic atrophy results not from a generalized lytic infection of T lymphocytes but rather from apoptosis of immature double-positive T cells that might be caused by infection of a small proportion of thymus epithelial cells or from inappropriate secretion of some factor, such as a cytokine. |
