Cytomegalovirus hepatitis: characterization of the inflammatory infiltrate in resistant and susceptible mice

Abstract

SUMMARY: Mice susceptible and resistant to murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) were infected with this virus and livers were harvested after 2–231 days. Cryostat sections were stained to visualize cells bearing CD4, CDS8 or Mac-1 antigens. Mac-1+ cells were prevalent in inflammatory foci after 2 days. These cells persisted in susceptible BALB/c and A/J mice, but disappeared from livers of resistant C57BI/6 and CBA/CaH mice by day 28. T cell inflammation peaked on days 7–11. This declined by day 56 in C57BI/6 and CBA/CaH mice, but persisted in BALB/c and A/J mice for at least 231 days. Persistent CD8+ cells were dispersed throughout the parenchyma. More CD8+ cells were observed 7–14 days after infection in the livers of bg/bg (natural killer (NK) cell-deficient) C57B1/6 and CBA mice, and in C57BI/6 mice depleted of NK 1.1 cells by MoAb. Thus, mice of strains susceptible to MCMV exhibit hepatitis characterized by persistence of dispersed CD8+ cells. This phenomenon may be limited by NK ceils in resistant strains.