Increased Uric Acid in the Developing Brain and Spinal Cord Following Cytomegalovirus Infection

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
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