Enzymatic amplification of lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus

Implications of infectious agents on results of animal experiments

Report of the Working Group on Hygiene of the Gesellschaft für Versuchstierkunde–Society for Laboratory Animal Science (GV-SOLAS)

GV-SOLAS Working Group on Hygiene: Werner Nicklas (Chairman), Felix R. Homberger, Brunhilde Illgen-Wilcke, Karin Jacobi, Volker Kraft, Ivo Kunstyr, Michael Mähler, Herbert Meyer & Gabi Pohlmeyer-Esch

Multiplex fluorescent immunoassay for detection of mice infected with lactate dehydrogenase elevating virus

Commercially available diagnostic tools for the detection of lactate dehydrogenase elevating virus (LDV) infection have been restricted to measurement of serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity levels and detection of the viral genome by RT-PCR assays. Serologic diagnosis of LDV infection has not been widely adopted due to the belief that the formation of antigen-antibody complexes and B-cell polyclonal activation may confound interpretation of results. In the current study, we inoculated BALB/c, C57BL/6, and Swiss Webster mice with LDV to compare the diagnostic reliability of a commercially available multiplex fluorescent immunoassay for the detection of antiLDV antibodies with that of the LDH enzyme assay. The serologic assay was vastly more sensitive and specific than was the LDH enzyme assay. Moreover, the serologic assay detected antiviral antibodies throughout the 3-mo time course of this study. These results suggest that antigen-antibody complex formation and polyclonal B-cell activation had little effect on assay performance.

Viral Infections of Laboratory Mice

Viral infections of laboratory mice have considerable impact on research results, and prevention of such infections is therefore of crucial importance. This chapter covers infections of mice with the following viruses: herpesviruses, mousepox virus, murine adenoviruses, polyomaviruses, parvoviruses, lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, mammalian orthoreovirus serotype 3, murine hepatitis virus, murine norovirus, murine pneumonia virus, murine rotavirus, Sendai virus, and Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus. For each virus, there is a description of the agent, epizootiology, clinical symptoms, pathology, methods of diagnosis and control, and its impact on research.