Malignant catarrhal fever of cattle is associated with low abundance of IL-2 transcript and a predominantly latent profile of ovine herpesvirus 2 gene expression.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) is a lethal disease of cattle, characterized by vasculitis, necrosis, and accumulation of activated, dysregulated cytotoxic lymphocytes in various tissues. Ovine gamma herpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2) is a causative agent of MCF, which may trigger the disease through immunopathogenic pathways. Lymphocytes are the main target of the virus. However, the pathogenic basis of the disease is still mysterious.

Methods/findings

We hypothesized that the gene expression patterns of OvHV-2 and the relative abundances of host cell transcripts in lymphnodes may be used to identify pathways that help to explain the pathogenesis of MCF. Therefore, viral and host cell gene expression patterns in lymph nodes of animals with MCF and healthy controls were analy

SUBMITTER: Meier-Trummer CS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2705673 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature