Susceptibility of inbred mice to chronic central nervous system infection by Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus.

The present study demonstrated that the clinicopathological expression of the late demyelinating disease due to chronic central nervous system infection by Theiler's mouse encephalomyelitis virus was dependent, at least in part, on the strain of mouse used as host. A range of involvement was observed, with late disease being most severe in the SJL strain, intermediate in the CBA and C3H/He strains, and least in C57BL/6 mice. The lack of clinical signs in seven other inbred strains of mice indicates that their response to chronic infection was similar to C57BL/6 mice. SJL, CBA, C3H/He, and C57BL/6 mice all generated similar levels of neutralizing antibody. A correlation between the severity of late disease and central nervous system virus content was not demonstrated, which indirectly suggests an immunopathological rather than a cytolytic mechanism of myelin injury during the late disease period. Finally, in addition to being more extensive, SJL demyelinating lesions contained a disproportionately large number of macrophages compared with those of similar lesions in CBA and C3H/He mice.