Biomaterial Database

Detection of maedi-visna virus in the liver and heart of naturally infected sheep. 2007

G D Brellou, and K Angelopoulou, and T Poutahidis, and I Vlemmas

Laboratory of Pathology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54124, Greece.

Maedi-visna virus (MVV) in sheep, which infects mainly cells of the monocyte/macrophage lineage, produces changes in the lung, mammary gland, brain and joints. In this study, however, the liver and heart of six naturally infected sheep were examined for the presence of the virus. MVV proviral DNA was demonstrated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis, and immunohistochemical examination revealed viral antigens in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes and cardiac myocytes. Although histopathological examination showed mild to moderate, chronic lymphocytic cholangiohepatitis and myocarditis and the presence of small lymphoid aggregates, the typical maedi lymphoproliferative lesions (lymphoid follicle-like structures of considerable size with germinal centres) were not seen in the liver and heart. These novel findings suggest that, although the macrophage is the main cell for productive viral replication, the liver and heart represent additional MVV targets.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008099	Liver	A large lobed glandular organ in the abdomen of vertebrates that is responsible for detoxification, metabolism, synthesis and storage of various substances.	Livers
D008168	Lung	Either of the pair of organs occupying the cavity of the thorax that effect the aeration of the blood.	Lungs
D008214	Lymphocytes	White blood cells formed in the body's lymphoid tissue. The nucleus is round or ovoid with coarse, irregularly clumped chromatin while the cytoplasm is typically pale blue with azurophilic (if any) granules. Most lymphocytes can be classified as either T or B (with subpopulations of each), or NATURAL KILLER CELLS.	Lymphoid Cells,Cell, Lymphoid,Cells, Lymphoid,Lymphocyte,Lymphoid Cell
D008969	Molecular Sequence Data	Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.	Sequence Data, Molecular,Molecular Sequencing Data,Data, Molecular Sequence,Data, Molecular Sequencing,Sequencing Data, Molecular
D011021	Pneumonia, Progressive Interstitial, of Sheep	Chronic respiratory disease caused by the VISNA-MAEDI VIRUS. It was formerly believed to be identical with jaagsiekte (PULMONARY ADENOMATOSIS, OVINE) but is now recognized as a separate entity.	Maedi,Progressive Interstitial Pneumonia of Sheep
D004279	DNA, Viral	Deoxyribonucleic acid that makes up the genetic material of viruses.	Viral DNA
D006321	Heart	The hollow, muscular organ that maintains the circulation of the blood.	Hearts
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D000956	Antigens, Viral	Substances elaborated by viruses that have antigenic activity.	Viral Antigen,Viral Antigens,Antigen, Viral
D001483	Base Sequence	The sequence of PURINES and PYRIMIDINES in nucleic acids and polynucleotides. It is also called nucleotide sequence.	DNA Sequence,Nucleotide Sequence,RNA Sequence,DNA Sequences,Base Sequences,Nucleotide Sequences,RNA Sequences,Sequence, Base,Sequence, DNA,Sequence, Nucleotide,Sequence, RNA,Sequences, Base,Sequences, DNA,Sequences, Nucleotide,Sequences, RNA