Archives of Virology

Verlinde, J. D.; de Vries, E.; Kret, A.

doi: 10.1007/bf01242415pmid: 13081038

SummaryDestruction of myelin in the central nervous system was produced in monkeys and rabbits by repeated intraperitoneal or intramuscular inoculation of either calf lymph, or egg-grown vaccinia virus, the latter being mixed with adjuvant consisting of either glycerin, or a suspension of heated staphylococci. Moreover, a similar lesion was observed in monkeys infected with calf lymph by dermal inoculation and treatment with cortisone. Phosphatase was shown to be present in purified elementary bodies of vaccinia virus, and the same enzyme, when prepared in larger quantities from pig's intestine proved capable to produce destruction of myelin following intracerebral inoculation, and following repeated intravenous inoculation together with vaccinia virus. The type and distribution of the demyelinating lesions were different from those in postvaccinal encephalitis. The demyelination was diffuse or focal, and not perivascular in character, and no other features of the human disease were found in the experimental animals. The observation, however, that an enzyme associated with vaccinia virus can produce demyelination, suggests, that this virus is of certain importance for the etiology of post-vaccinal encephalitis. The pathogenesis of the disease is still obscure.