Effect of Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis Virus Infection on Phosphate Transfer and Modification by Cortisone.

Abstract

Intracerebral infection of white Swiss mice (CFW) with the virus of Eastern equine encephalomyelitis produced an apparent alteration in the transfer rate of total acid-soluble phosphates (as P32O4) from the blood to the brain tissues. Analysis of this fraction showed that the effect was primarily due to an enhanced rate of orthophosphate transfer. A non-specific inflammation of the brain also induced an increase in the transfer rate of ortho-phosphate to the brain. Both the virus- and pyrogen-induced alterations of phosphate transfer rates in the brain were markedly suppressed by pre-treatment of the experimental animals with a relatively large dose of cortisone. Comparative determinations of the virus growth in both cortisone-treated and untreated control animals showed no effect of cortisone on the rate of virus proliferation. It seems, therefore, that the observed effect of this neurotropic virus infection on the rate of phosphate transfer from the blood to the brain tissues is due to inflammation, rather than to a specific metabolic requirement for virus synthesis.