Summary
Evidence is presented that Borna disease (BD) virus, which is known to cause encephalopathy in horses, sheep, and a broad range of experimental animals, or a related agent, can infect man and may induce mental disorders. BD virus-specific antibodies could be demonstrated in 4–7% of sera (depending on origin) from more than 5000 psychiatric or neurological patients from Germany, U.S.A. and Japan. Antibodies from seropositive patients reacted with a BD virus-specific protein translated by RNAs which were transcribed from a cDNA clone obtained from BD virus-infected tissues. When the cerebrospinal fluid from three seropositive patients was inoculated into rabbits or rabbit embryonic brain cell cultures, evidence was obtained that suggests the presence of BD virus or a related agent.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amsterdam JD, Winokur H, Dyson W, Herzog S, Rott R, Koprowski H (1985) Borna disease virus: a possible etiologic factor in human affective disorders? Arch Gen Psychiatry 42: 1093–1096
Bechter K, Herzog S, Fleischer B, Schüttler R, Rott R (1987) Kernspintomographische Befunde bei psychiatrischen Patienten mit und ohne Serum-Antikörper gegen das Virus der Bornaschen Krankheit. Nervenarzt 58: 617–624
Carbone KM, Duchala CS, Griffin JW, Kincaid AC, Narayan O (1987) Pathogenesis of Borna disease in rats: evidence that intra-axonal spread is the major route for virus dissemination and the determinant for disease incubation. J Virol 61: 3431–3440
Deschl U, Stitz L, Herzog S, Frese K, Rott R (1990) Determination of immune cells and expression of major histocompatibility complex class II antigen in encephalitic lesions of experimental Borna disease. Acta Neuropathol 81: 41–50
Duchala CS, Carbone KM, Narayan O (1989) Preliminary studies on biology of Borna disease virus. J Gen Virol 70: 3507–3511
Gosztonyi G, Ludwig H (1984) Borna disease of horses. An immunohistological and virological study of naturally infected animals. Acta Neuropathol 64: 213–221
Haas B, Becht H, Rott R (1986) Purification and properties of an intranuclear virus-specific antigen from tissue infected with Borna disease virus. J Gen Virol 67: 235–241
Heinig A (1969) Die Bornasche Krankheit der Pferde und Schafe. In: Röhrer H (ed) Handbuch der Virusinfektionen bei Tieren, vol 4. G Fischer, Jena, pp 83–148
Herzog S, Rott R (1980) Replication of Borna disease virus in cell cultures. Med Microbiol Immunol 168: 153–158
Herzog S, Kompter C, Frese K, Rott R (1984) Replication of Borna disease virus in rats: age dependent differences in tissue distribution. Med Microbiol Immunol 173: 171–177
Herzog S, Wonigeit K, Frese K, Hedrich HJ, Rott R (1985) Effect of Borna disease virus infection in athymic rats. J Gen Virol 66: 503–508
Hirano N, Kao M, Ludwig H (1983) Persistent tolerant or subacute infections in Borna disease virus-infected rats. J Gen Virol 64: 1521–1530
Krey H, Ludwig H, Rott R (1979) Spread of infectious virus along the optic nerve into the retina in Borna disease virus-infected rabbits. Arch Virol 61: 283–288
Lange H, Herzog S, Herbst W, Schliesser T (1987) Seroepidemiologische Untersuchungen zur Bornaschen Krankheit der Pferde. Tierärztl Umschau 42: 938–946
Lipkin WJ, Travis GH, Carbone KM, Wilson MC (1990) Isolation and characterization of Borna disease agent cDNA clones. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 87: 4184–4188
Ludwig H, Koester V, Pauli G, Rott R (1977) The cerebrospinal fluid of rabbits infected with Borna disease virus. Arch Virol 55: 209–223
Ludwig H, Bode L, Gosztonyi G (1988) Borna disease: a persistent virus infection of the central nervous system. Progr Med Virol 35: 107–151
Morales JH, Herzog S, Kompter C, Frese K, Rott R (1988) Axonal transport of Borna disease virus along olfactory pathways in spontaneously and experimentally infected rats. Med Microbiol Immunol 177: 51–68
Narayan O, Herzog S, Frese K, Scheefers H, Rott R (1983) Behavioral disease in rats caused by immunopathological responses to persistent Borna virus in the brain. Science 220: 1401–1403
Narayan O, Herzog S, Frese K, Scheefers H, Rott R (1983) Pathogenesis of Borna disease in rats: immune mediated viral ophthalmoencephalopathy causing blindness and behavioral abnormalities. J Infect Dis 148: 305–315
Nicolau S, Galloway IA (1928) Borna disease and enzootic encephalitis of sheep and cattle. Spec Rep Ser Med Res Council 121: 7–90
Richt JA, Stitz L, Wekerle H, Rott R (1989) Borna disease, a progressive meningoencephalomyelitis as a model of CD4+ T cell-mediated immunopathology in the brain. J Exp Med 170: 1045–1050
Richt J, Stitz L, Deschl U, Frese K, Rott R (1990) Borna disease virus-induced meningoencephalomyelitis caused by a virus-specific CD4+ T cell-mediated immune reaction. J Gen Virol 71: 2565–2573
Rott R, Herzog S, Fleischer B, Winokur H, Amsterdam J, Dyson W, Koprowski H (1985) Detection of serum antibodies to Borna disease virus in patients with psychiatric disorders. Science 228: 755–756
Sprankel H, Richarz K, Ludwig H, Rott R (1979) Behavior alterations in tree shrew (Tupaia glis, Diard) induced by Borna disease virus. Med Microbiol Immunol 165: 1–18
Stitz L, Schilken D, Frese K (1991) Atypical dissemination of the highly neurotropic Borna disease virus during persistent infection in Cyclosporin A-treated immunosuppressed rats. J Virol 65: 457–460
Stitz L, Soeder S, Deschl U, Frese K, Rott R (1989) Inhibition of immune-mediated meningoencephalitis in persistently Borna disease virus-infected rats by Cyclosporin A. J Immunol 143: 4250–4256
VandeWoud S, Richt JA, Zink MC, Rott R, Narayan O, Clements JE (1990) A Borna disease virus cDNA clone encoding a protein recognized by antibodies in humans with behavioral diseases. Science 250: 1278–1281
Zwick W (1939) Bornasche Krankheit und Encephalomyelitis der Tiere. In: Gildemeister F, Hagen E, Waldmann O (eds) Handbuch der Viruskrankheiten, vol 2. G Fischer, Jena, 254–354
Zwick W, Witte J, Bert F (1932) Über das Vorkommen des Virus der Bornaschen Krankheit im Harn, im Blut und im Liquor cerebrospinalis. Berl Tierärztl Wochenschr 48: 336–337
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rott, R., Herzog, S., Bechter, K. et al. Borna disease, a possible hazard for man?. Archives of Virology 118, 143–149 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01314025
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01314025