Cellular response markers and cytokine gene expression in the central nervous system of cattle naturally infected with bovine herpesvirus 5

Abstract The present study reports an investigation on the phenotype of inflammatory and immune cells, cytokine and viral gene expression in the brains of cattle naturally infected with bovine herpesvirus 5 (BHV5). Brain sections of 38 affected animals were analysed for the nature and extent of perivascular cuffs in the Virchow–Robin space and parenchyma. Histopathological changes were severe in the olfactory bulbs (Obs), hippocampus, piriform, frontal, temporal and parietal cortices/lobes and were characterized by inflammatory infiltrates in Virchow–Robin spaces. The histopathological changes correlated positively with the distribution of BHV5 antigens ( r  = 0.947; P r  = 0.987; P INFG , IL2 , TNF and LTBR were expressed in the same brain areas ( P