Open AccessNeuropathogenicity of Two Saffold Virus Type 3 Isolates in Mouse Models
Author(s) -
Osamu Kotani,
Asif Naeem,
Tadaki Suzuki,
Naoko IwataYoshikawa,
Yuko Sato,
N. Nakajima,
Takushi Hosomi,
Hiroyuki Tsukagoshi,
Kunihisa Kozawa,
Hideki Hasegawa,
Fumihiro Taguchi,
Hiroyuki Shimizu,
Noriyo Nagata
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0148184
Subject(s) - virology , biology , serotype , aseptic meningitis , virus , virulence , tissue tropism , meningitis , tropism , medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , biochemistry , psychiatry
Objective Saffold virus (SAFV), a picornavirus, is occasionally detected in children with acute flaccid paralysis, meningitis, and cerebellitis; however, the neuropathogenicity of SAFV remains undetermined. Methods The virulence of two clinical isolates of SAFV type 3 (SAFV-3) obtained from a patient with aseptic meningitis (AM strain) and acute upper respiratory inflammation (UR strain) was analyzed in neonatal and young mice utilizing virological, pathological, and immunological methods. Results The polyproteins of the strains differed in eight amino acids. Both clinical isolates were infective, exhibited neurotropism, and were mildly neurovirulent in neonatal ddY mice. Both strains pathologically infected neural progenitor cells and glial cells, but not large neurons, with the UR strain also infecting epithelial cells. UR infection resulted in longer inflammation in the brain and spinal cord because of demyelination, while the AM strain showed more infectivity in the cerebellum in neonatal ddY mice. Additionally, young BALB/c mice seroconverted following mucosal inoculation with the UR, but not the AM, strain. Conclusions Both SAFV-3 isolates had neurotropism and mild neurovirulence but showed different cell tropisms in both neonatal and young mouse models. This animal model has the potential to recapitulate the potential neuropathogenicity of SAFV-3.