Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Postgraduate Medical Journal logoLink to Postgraduate Medical Journal
. 1979 Feb;55(640):143–149. doi: 10.1136/pgmj.55.640.143

Slow viruses and chronic disease of the central nervous system.

R N Sutton
PMCID: PMC2425369  PMID: 223140

Abstract

Although recognized since the 1930s, slow infections have only recently received considerable attention. There are three types, group A (related to the type C RNA viruses), group B (bizarre agents such as scrapie and kuru) and group C (viruses such as measles which normally produce acute infections but which are behaving here in an unusual fashion). These viruses are only united in that they produce disease with excessively long incubation periods. Many slow infections result in neurological diseases and these will be discussed, together with some possible explanations of their action.

Full text

PDF
143

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Barbanti-Brodano G., Oyanagi S., Katz M., Koprowski H. Presence of 2 different viral agents in brain cells of patients with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1970 May;134(1):230–236. doi: 10.3181/00379727-134-34765. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. CHANDLER R. L. Encephalopathy in mice produced by inoculation with scrapie brain material. Lancet. 1961 Jun 24;1(7191):1378–1379. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(61)92008-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Clarke M. C., Millson G. C. The membrane location of scrapie infectivity. J Gen Virol. 1976 Jun;31(3):441–445. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-31-3-441. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Dickinson A. G., Fraser H., Outram G. W. Scrapie incubation time can exceed natural lifespan. Nature. 1975 Aug 28;256(5520):732–733. doi: 10.1038/256732a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Diener T. O. Viroids: the smallest known agents of infectious disease. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1974;28(0):23–39. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.28.100174.000323. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Eccles J. C. The cerebellum as a computer: patterns in space and time. J Physiol. 1973 Feb;229(1):1–32. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1973.sp010123. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. GAJDUSEK D. C., ZIGAS V. Degenerative disease of the central nervous system in New Guinea; the endemic occurrence of kuru in the native population. N Engl J Med. 1957 Nov 14;257(20):974–978. doi: 10.1056/NEJM195711142572005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Gajdusek D. C., Gibbs C. J., Jr, Asher D. M., Brown P., Diwan A., Hoffman P., Nemo G., Rohwer R., White L. Precautions in medical care of, and in handling materials from, patients with transmissible virus dementia (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease). N Engl J Med. 1977 Dec 8;297(23):1253–1258. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197712082972304. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Gajdusek D. C., Gibbs C. J., Jr Familial and sporadic chronic neurological degenerative disorders transmitted from man to primates. Adv Neurol. 1975;10:291–317. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Gajdusek D. C., Gibbs C. J., Jr Letter: Survival of Creutzfeldt-Jakob-disease virus in formol-fixed brain tissue. N Engl J Med. 1976 Mar 4;294(10):553–553. doi: 10.1056/nejm197603042941015. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Gibbs C. J., Jr, Gajdusek D. C. Transmission of scrapie to the cynomolgus monkey (Macaca fascicularis). Nature. 1972 Mar 10;236(5341):73–74. doi: 10.1038/236073a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hall W. W., ter Meulen V. RNA homology between subacute sclerosing panencephalitis and measles viruses. Nature. 1976 Dec 2;264(5585):474–477. doi: 10.1038/264474a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Harter D. H., Axel R., Burny A., Gulati S., Schlom J., Spiegelman S. The relationship of visna, maedi and RNA tumor viruses as studied by molecular hybridization. Virology. 1973 Mar;52(1):287–291. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(73)90418-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Lord A., Sutton R. N., Corsellis J. A. Recovery of adenovirus type 7 from human brain cell cultures. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1975 Jul;38(7):710–712. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.38.7.710. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Macintyre E. H., Wintersgill C. J., Vatter A. E. Prolonged culture of Visna virus in human astrocytes. Beitr Pathol. 1974 Jul;152(2):163–178. doi: 10.1016/s0005-8165(74)80117-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Manuelidis E. E., Gorgacz E. J., Manuelidis L. Transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease with scrapie-like syndromes to mice. Nature. 1978 Feb 23;271(5647):778–779. doi: 10.1038/271778a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Manuelidis E. E., Kim J., Angelo J. N., Manuelidis L. Serial propagation of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in guinea pigs. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1976 Jan;73(1):223–227. doi: 10.1073/pnas.73.1.223. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Matthews W. B. Epidemiology of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in England and Wales. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1975 Mar;38(3):210–213. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.38.3.210. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Oyanagi S., ter Meulen V., Müller D., Katz M., Koprowski H. Electron microscopic observations in subacute sclerosing panencephalitis brain cell cultures: their correlation with cytochemical and immunocytological findings. J Virol. 1970 Sep;6(3):370–379. doi: 10.1128/jvi.6.3.370-379.1970. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Pattison I. H., Hoare M. N., Jebbett J. N., Watson W. A. Spread of scrapie to sheep and goats by oral dosing with foetal membranes from scrapie-affected sheep. Vet Rec. 1972 Apr 22;90(17):465–468. doi: 10.1136/vr.90.17.465. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. SIGURDSSON B., PALSSON P., GRIMSSON H. Visna, a demyelinating transmissible disease of sheep. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 1957 Jul;16(3):389–403. doi: 10.1097/00005072-195707000-00010. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Sells C. J., Carpenter R. L., Ray C. G. Sequelae of central-nervous-system enterovirus infections. N Engl J Med. 1975 Jul 3;293(1):1–4. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197507032930101. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Sutton R. N., Pullen H. J., Blackledge P., Brown E. H., Sinclair L., Swift P. N. Adenovirus type 7; 1971-74. Lancet. 1976 Nov 6;2(7993):987–991. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(76)90832-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Townsend J. J., Baringer J. R., Wolinsky J. S., Malamud N., Mednick J. P., Panitch H. S., Scott R. A., Oshiro L., Cremer N. E. Progressive rubella panencephalitis. Late onset after congenital rubella. N Engl J Med. 1975 May 8;292(19):990–993. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197505082921902. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Zlotnik I., Grant D. P., Batter-Hatton D. Encephalopathy in mice following inapparent Semliki Forest Virus (S.F.V.) infection. Br J Exp Pathol. 1972 Apr;53(2):125–129. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Postgraduate Medical Journal are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES