Maternal antibody-modulated MHV-JHM infection in C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice.

1. Maternal antibody protected C57BL/6 and BALB/c suckling mice from the acute, fatal encephalomyelitis caused by MHV-JHM. 2. 40% of the C57BL/6 mice and 25% of the BALB/c mice which were protected by maternal antibody developed neurological disease days to weeks later. Although the clinical syndromes developed by the two different strains were different, in both cases the mice developed a demyelinating encephalomyelitis with fewer inflammatory changes present in the grey matter. 3. Presence or absence of neutralizing antibody in the sera of maternal antibody-protected C57BL/6 mice did not correlate with the development of clinically evident neurological disease. 4. Infectious virus could only be isolated from C57BL/6 mice with neurological disease, although viral antigen could be detected in most mice whether symptomatic or not. 5. This model should be useful for the study of the viral and immune factors important in MHV-induced viral demyelination.