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Encephalitis in Hamsters Produced by Viral Agents Isolated From Human Brain Cells

James R. Lehrich, MD; Michael Katz, MD; Lucy Balian Rorke, MD; Giuseppe Barbanti-Brodano, MD; Hilary Koprowski, MD

Arch Neurol. 1970;23(2):97-102.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

ALTHOUGH a viral etiology for subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) was first postulated by Dawson¹ in 1933, the isolation of measles-like viruses from brain cell cultures established from biopsies of SSPE patients has been a recent accomplishment.^2-4

The SSPE agents, either present in brain biopsies of patients or isolated from their brain tissue maintained in culture, have been found to be pathogenic for ferrets,^5,6 with encephalitis becoming manifest after a prolonged incubation period. Because of the difficulties involved in handling ferrets and the excessive costs of their maintenance, a search became necessary for another experimental host—an animal at least as susceptible as the ferret to SSPE infection, but easier to handle and less costly to maintain.

The present study shows that the hamster meets these criteria; intracerebral inoculation of hamsters with human brain culture cells carrying the SSPE agents, or with cell-free SSPE virus, produces encephalitis.

Materials and . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
Philadelphia

From the Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology (Drs. Lehrich, Katz, Barbanti-Brodano, and Koprowski); Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (Dr. Lehrich); Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania (Dr. Katz); and Department of Neuropathology, Philadelphia General Hospital (Dr. Rorke), Philadelphia.

Footnotes
Accepted for publication Feb 27, 1970.

Reprint requests to the Wistar Institute, 36th St at Spruce, Philadelphia 19104 (Dr. Lehrich).

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