INFLUENCE OF AGE FACTORS ON SUSCEPTIBILITY OF MICE TO RABIES VIRUS

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Virology
• Immunology

Background:

• Viral infections can exhibit varying pathogenicity based on host age.
• Understanding age-related susceptibility is crucial for disease modeling and therapeutic development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of age on mouse susceptibility to fixed and street rabies virus strains.
• To compare susceptibility across different routes of viral administration in young versus adult mice.

Main Methods:

• Mice of different age groups (7-9 days, 20 days, and 60 days old) were inoculated with fixed or street rabies virus.
• Inoculations were performed via peripheral and intracerebral routes.
• Susceptibility was assessed based on observed clinical signs and mortality.

Main Results:

• Younger mice (7-9 days old) showed higher susceptibility to both virus strains via all routes compared to older mice.
• Twenty-day-old mice were more susceptible to peripheral fixed virus injection than 60-day-old mice.
• Susceptibility to street virus was similar between 20-day-old and 60-day-old mice, regardless of injection route.

Conclusions:

• Mouse age is a critical factor influencing susceptibility to rabies virus infection.
• The route of viral administration interacts with host age to determine susceptibility, especially for fixed virus strains.
• These findings highlight the importance of age-matching in rabies virus research models.