Borna disease in rhesus monkeys as a models for uveo-cerebral symptoms

Borna disease, a naturally occurring encephalomyelitis of horses and sheep, was induced in rhesus monkeys after intracerebral infection with virus containing rabbit brain suspension. The animals developed neurological disorders followed by a severe encephalomyelitis which was accompanied by a retinopathy. In all the analyzed brain and retina tissue pieces, virus-specific antigen could be demonstrated by immunoelectrophoretic techniques. Antibodies could be demonstrated by the intermediate gel technique as well as by the immunofluorescence test in the serum and the cerebrospinal fluid of all the monkeys. The histopathological findings in the brain and the eye might be comparable to certain types of encephalitis in man and to pathological changes in the eye of human patients, the etiologies of which are still obscure. An attempt was also made to study cell-mediated immunity by a chromium release assay in infected animals, the results of which might provide, together with the histopathological observations, strong evidence for the role of lymphocytes in the pathogenesis of BD infection in rhesus monkeys.