Increased Uric Acid in the Developing Brain and Spinal Cord Following Cytomegalovirus Infection |
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Authors: | Barry E. Boyes Douglas G. Walker Edith G. McGeer John R. O'Kusky |
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Affiliation: | Kinsmen Laboratory of Neurological Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada;Division of Medical Microbiology, Department of Pathology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
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Abstract: | Abstract: Tissue concentrations of uric acid were determined in the spinal cord, cerebellum, caudate-putamen, and cerebral cortex of developing mice following intraventricular inoculation with murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) on postnatal day 10. Transient signs of neurological impairment were observed in MCMV-infected animals beginning on days 13–16 and continuing until days 19–21. At the onset of neurological impairment, uric acid concentrations in tissues from infected animals were 17–60-fold greater than in control animals. On postnatal day 70, 60 days after inoculation and 40 days after resolution of neurological signs, uric acid levels were still two- to threefold greater in infected animals. Histological examination revealed signs of focal ischemia in the cerebral and cerebellar cortices of MCMV-infected mice only at the onset of neurological impairment, with ischemic cell changes in some pyramidal neurons of the cerebral cortex. These results indicate that uric acid may be a sensitive marker of persistent vascular pathology resulting from cytomegalovirus infection of the developing nervous system |
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Keywords: | Uric acid Cytomegalovirus Mouse brain High-pressure liquid chromatography Ischemia Xanthine oxidase |
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