Intra-axonal virus in demyelinative lesions of experimental herpes simplex type 2 infection.

Three-week-old mice which had been infected intracerebrally with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) were examined electron-microscopically for the presence of intra-axonal virus in or near optic nerve and spinal cord demyelinative lesions. Acute lesions and their margins frequently contained a very small proportion of abnormal axons, and in a few of these mature virus particles, nucleocapsids, or other incomplete forms were found. A similar range of particle morphology was present in the cytoplasm of infected and degenerating glia. Axons containing similar particles were not identified in fibers in normal white matter surrounding demyelinative lesions. It is proposed that neuronal infection and axonal transport of virus may lead to foci of oligodendroglial infection, destruction and central nervous system (CNS) demyelination near to or remote from the cell bodies of infected neurons. In some instances, the topography of lesions could reflect a tract association. Anatomical features of nervous tissue could favor amplification of demyelination from a relatively minimal neuronal infection, with little evidence of tract degeneration. This hypothesis is consistent with the great predominance of demyelination relative to gray matter disease seen experimentally in non-fatal CNS infections with HSV-2. It would also explain the marked tendency for demyelinative lesions in at least certain CNS locations to be greatly elongated in the long axis of fiber tracts. This mechanism could be of importance in other animal models of virus-induced demyelination, and perhaps also in multiple sclerosis.