Simian Varicella Virus Infection of Rhesus Macaques Recapitulates Essential Features of Varicella Zoster Virus Infection in Humans

Simian varicella virus (SVV), the etiologic agent of naturally occurring varicella in primates, is genetically and antigenically closely related to human varicella zoster virus (VZV). Early attempts to develop a model of VZV pathogenesis and latency in nonhuman primates (NHP) resulted in persistent infection. More recent models successfully produced latency; however, only a minority of monkeys became viremic and seroconverted. Thus, previous NHP models were not ideally suited to analyze the immune response to SVV during acute infection and the transition to latency. Here, we show for the first time that intrabronchial inoculation of rhesus macaques with SVV closely mimics naturally occurring varicella (chickenpox) in humans. Infected monkeys developed varicella and viremia that resolved 21 days after infection. Months later, viral DNA was detected only in ganglia and not in non-ganglionic tissues. Like VZV latency in human ganglia, transcripts corresponding to SVV ORFs 21, 62, 63 and 66, but not ORF 40, were detected by RT-PCR. In addition, as described for VZV, SVV ORF 63 protein was detected in the cytoplasm of neurons in latently infected monkey ganglia by immunohistochemistry. We also present the first in depth analysis of the immune response to SVV. Infected animals produced a strong humoral and cell-mediated immune response to SVV, as assessed by immunohistology, serology and flow cytometry. Intrabronchial inoculation of rhesus macaques with SVV provides a novel model to analyze viral and immunological mechanisms of VZV latency and reactivation

The first case of Brucella canis in Sweden: background, case report and recommendations from a northern European perspective

Infection with Brucella canis has been diagnosed in Sweden for the first time. It was diagnosed in a three-year-old breeding bitch with reproductive disturbances. Fifteen in-contact dogs were tested repeatedly and all of them were negative for B. canis. The source of infection could not be defined. The present article describes the case and the measures undertaken and gives a short review over B. canis. Recommendations on how to avoid the infection in non-endemic countries are given

Selective Induction of Homeostatic Th17 Cells in the Murine Intestine by Cholera Toxin Interacting with the Microbiota

Th17 cells play a role as an inflammation mediator in a variety of autoimmune disorders, including inflammatory bowel disease, and thus are widely considered to be pathogenic. However, Th17 cells are present in the normal intestine and show a homeostatic phenotype; that is, they participate in the maintenance of intestinal homeostasis rather than inducing inflammation. We observed an enlarged Th17 population in the small intestine of C57BL/6.IgA-/- mice compared with wild-type mice, which was further amplified with cholera toxin (CT) immunization without causing intestinal inflammation. The increased Th17 induction and the correspondingly 10-fold higher CT B subunit-specific serum IgG response in IgA-/- mice after CT immunization was microbiota dependent and was associated with increased segmented filamentous bacteria in the small intestine of IgA-/- mice. Oral administration of vancomycin greatly dampened both CT immunogenicity and adjuvanticity, and the differential CT responses in IgA-/- and wild-type mice disappeared after intestinal microbiota equalization. Using gnotobiotic mouse models, we found that CT induction of homeostatic intestinal Th17 responses was supported not only by segmented filamentous bacteria, but also by other commensal bacteria. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis using IL-17AhCD2 reporter mice revealed a similar gene expression profile in CT-induced intestinal Th17 cells and endogenous intestinal Th17 cells at homeostasis, with upregulated expression of a panel of immune-regulatory genes, which was distinctly different from the gene expression profile of pathogenic Th17 cells. Taken together, we identified a nonpathogenic signature of intestinal homeostatic Th17 cells, which are actively regulated by the commensal microbiota and can be selectively stimulated by CT

Prior infection exacerbates postoperative cognitive dysfunction in aged rats

Older patients may experience persisting postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD), which is considered to largely depend on surgery-induced (neuro)inflammation. We hypothesize that inflammatory events before surgery could predispose patients to POCD. When part of our aged rats developed Mycoplasma pulmonis, this presented the unique opportunity to investigate whether a pulmonary infection before surgery influences surgery-induced neuroinflammation and POCD. Male 18-mo-old Wistar rats that had recovered from an active mycoplasma infection (infection) and control rats (healthy) were subjected to abdominal surgery and jugular vein catheterization under general anesthesia (surgery) or remained naïve (control). In postoperative week 2, behavioral tests were performed to assess cognitive performance and exploratory behavior. The acute systemic inflammatory response was investigated by measuring plasma IL-6 and IL-12. In the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and striatum, microglial activity, neurogenesis, and concentrations of IL-6, IL-12, IL1B, and brain-derived neurotropic factor on postoperative day 14 were determined. Rats still showed signs of increased neuroinflammatory activity, as well as cognitive and behavioral changes, 3 wk after the symptoms of infection had subsided. Rats that had experienced infection before surgery exhibited a more generalized and exacerbated postoperative cognitive impairment compared with healthy surgery rats, as well as a prolonged increase in systemic cytokine levels and increased microglial activation in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. These findings support the hypothesis that an infection before surgery under general anesthesia exacerbates POCD. Future studies are necessary to determine whether the found effects are aging specific and to investigate the magnitude and time course of this effect in a controlled manner. © 2015 the American Physiological Society