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Inflammatory response in human tick-borne encephalitis: analysis of postmortem brain tissue

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Abstract

In Central European tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) mechanisms of tissue destruction are poorly understood. To evaluate the contribution of immunological mechanisms to tissue injury, the authors immunohistochemically analyzed paraffin-embedded autoptic brain tissue of 26 human TBE cases. In the parenchymal compartment, there was a predominance of macrophages/microglia and cytotoxic T cells. In addition, it was found that granzyme B-expressing lymphocytes were in close contact with TBE-expressing neurons up-regulating caspase-3. These findings indicate that cellular and humoral pathways of the immune system, especially granzyme B-releasing cytotoxic T cells and macrophages/microglia, mainly contribute to tissue destruction in TBE.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Neurology, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 4J, 1097, Vienna, Austria

    Ellen Gelpi, Matthias Preusser, Ute Laggner & Herbert Budka

  2. Department of Pathology, Markusovszky Hospital, Szombathely, Hungary

    Ferenc Garzuly

  3. Institute of Virology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria

    Heidemarie Holzmann & Franz Xaver Heinz

Authors
  1. Ellen Gelpi
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  2. Matthias Preusser
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  3. Ute Laggner
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  4. Ferenc Garzuly
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  5. Heidemarie Holzmann
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  6. Franz Xaver Heinz
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  7. Herbert Budka
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Correspondence to Herbert Budka.

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Gelpi, E., Preusser, M., Laggner, U. et al. Inflammatory response in human tick-borne encephalitis: analysis of postmortem brain tissue. Journal of NeuroVirology 12, 322–327 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1080/13550280600848746

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13550280600848746

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