Effects of induced thrombocytopenia on viral invasion of the central nervous system in canine distemper virus infection

Groups of canine distemper virus (CDV)-susceptible ferrets were treated daily with 2·0 ml of normal goat serum (NGS) or goat anti-ferret platelet serum from 2 days before to 11 days after infection. Each group was subdivided into 2 and one subgroup of each was subsequently injected intraperitoneally with virulent R252-CDV. Ferrets were killed on days 2, 4, 6, 9 and 11 after infection and tissues from the central nervous system (CNS) were examined for histopathological lesions typical for CDV and also of CDV antigen by indirect immuno-fluorescence methods. In NGS-treated animals, a time course-dependent spread of CDV from CNS endothelium during days 2 to 4 after infection through choroid plexus epithelium was observed. In contrast, CDV-infected ferrets treated with anti-platelet antibody exhibited a delay in infection of CNS endothelium until 9 days after infection. The results of this study confirm vascular endothelium as the primary route of invasion of CNS tissues by CDV and implicate the circulating platelet in the initiation of this event.