Imunopatologia experimental do vírus da raiva, com as variantes antigênicas 2 e 3

Abstract

The rabies is considered a zoonosis due have as host, reservoirs and transmitters the domestic or wild mammals. It´s characterized in acute disease caused by rabies virus (RABV) that affects the central nervous system (CNS) characterized by encephalitis with fatal prognosis in almost all cases, in any mammalian species. The aim of this study was to describe pathological findings and immunopathology of different strains of rabies virus in the tissues of the central nervous system, checking cellular and humoral immune response during experimental infection of Mus musculus mice. The animals were inoculated with two antigenic variants of RABV (VAg2 and VAg3), by different routes of infection, and a control group. The animals were observed for development of clinical signs and symptoms, collected and euthanized following a kinetic. The tissues were fixed in formaldehyde 10%, embedded in paraffin, stained with hematoxylin-eosin for histopathological analysis and with specific antibodies for immunohistochemical to characterize and quantify in situ distribution of the antigen and the inflammatory response. RABV antigens were found in the CNS in a diffuse way, but mainly in neurons. It was observed suppression of CD4+ lymphocytes, with increase of CD8+ lymphocytes. It was observed significant apoptosis with glial cell death and an increase of proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-6, IL-1β and IL-8), anti-inflammatory (TGF-β and IL-4) and iNOS in both antigenic variants of RABV, but without observation of a TH17 profile. The analyses enable the characterization of rabies as meningoencephalitis, since it affects the meningeal, perivascular and intraparenchymal microenvironments. And the inflammatory process was observed even in the presence of inclusion bodies, but with less intensity.