Publications by authors named "Hanns Ludwig"

Background: Borna disease virus 1 (BoDV-1) is a non-segmented, negative-strand RNA virus that persistently infects mammals including humans. BoDV-1 worldwide occurring strains display highly conserved genomes with overlapping genetic signatures between those of either human or animal origin. BoDV-1 infection may cause behavioral and cognitive disturbances in animals but has also been found in human major depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

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Amantadine (1-amino-adamantane) is a versatile antiviral compound which has been licensed for decades against influenza viruses. During the Corona pandemic, its effect to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 in vitro has been investigated. However, an in vivo oral inapplicability was concluded due to ID doses exceeding eight times the estimated maximum tolerable plasma levels reached by 600 mg orally daily.

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Human obesity epidemic is increasing worldwide with major adverse consequences on health. Among other possible causes, the hypothesis of an infectious contribution is worth it to be considered. Here, we report on an animal model of virus-induced obesity which might help to better understand underlying processes in human obesity.

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Background: Whether Borna disease virus (BDV-1) is a human pathogen remained controversial until recent encephalitis cases showed BDV-1 infection could even be deadly. This called to mind previous evidence for an infectious contribution of BDV-1 to mental disorders. Pilot open trials suggested that BDV-1 infected depressed patients benefitted from antiviral therapy with a licensed drug (amantadine) which also tested sensitive in vitro.

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Background: The hypothesis that microbial infections may be linked to mental disorders has long been addressed for Borna disease virus (BDV), but clinical and epidemiological evidence remained inconsistent due to non-conformities in detection methods. BDV circulating immune complexes (CIC) were shown to exceed the prevalence of serum antibodies alone and to comparably screen for infection in Europe (DE, CZ, IT), the Middle East (IR) and Asia (CN), still seeking general acceptance.

Methods: We used CIC and antigen (Ag) tests to investigate BDV infection in Lithuania through a case-control study design comparing in-patients suffering of primary psychosis with blood donors.

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Background: Human Borna disease virus (BDV) infections have recently been reported in China. BDV causes cognitive and behavioural disturbances in animals. The impact on human mental disorders is subject to debate, but previous studies worldwide have found neuropsychiatric patients more frequently infected than healthy controls.

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Background: Borna disease virus (BDV) is an evolutionary old RNA virus, which infects brain and blood cells of humans, their primate ancestors, and other mammals. Human infection has been correlated to mood disorders and schizophrenia, but the impact of BDV on mental-health still remains controversial due to poor methodological and cross-national comparability.

Method: This first report from the Middle East aimed to determine BDV infection prevalence in Iranian acute psychiatric disorder patients and healthy controls through circulating immune complexes (CIC), antibodies (Ab) and antigen (pAg) in blood plasma using a standardized triple enzyme immune assay (EIA).

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Equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) is a major equine pathogen causing respiratory diseases, abortions and severe neurological disorders. The basis of neurological disturbances is, as in other organs, infection of endothelial cells, followed by vasculitis, thrombosis and ischaemic damage of the parenchyma. Here, a murine model was used to explore the mechanism of entry to, and spread within the brain, the cell affinity of the agent and the modulating role of the immune defence, which are all factors governing the pathogenesis of the neurological disease.

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Borna disease virus (BDV) causes neurological disease in horses, however, there is no consensus as to the extent or significance of human infection. BDV antigen levels in plasma (BDVpAg) and anti-BDV were measured by ELISAs. Confirmation was by Western blot (WB), immunofluorescence assay (IFA) or BDV-peptide-epitope ELISA.

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In Europe, Borna disease virus (BDV) infection has been linked with staggering disease. The aim of this study was serological investigation for BDV infection in Australian cats. De-identified sera were obtained from domestic cats presented at various veterinary clinics.

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Equid herpes virus 1 (EHV-1) related isolates from a captive blackbuck (strain Ro-1) and Grevy's zebra (strain T965) behaved similarly to EHV-1 and EHV-9 in respect to their host cell range. Restriction enzyme analysis and a phylogenetic tree confirmed that Ro-1 and T965 were identical and more closely related to EHV-1 than to EHV-9. Differences from EHV-1 became obvious firstly, by amino acid alignments revealing two unique substitutions in the gB protein of Ro-1 and T965.

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Dendritic cells (DC) are the initiators of immune responses and are present in most tissues in vivo. To generate myeloid DC from monocytes (MoDC) in vitro the necessary cytokines are granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin-4 (IL-4). Using degenerated primers delineated from other species and rapid amplification of cDNA ends reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RACE RT-PCR), the cDNA of equine (eq.

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The myeloid cell system comprises of monocytes, macrophages (MPhi), dendritic cells (DC), Kupffer cells, osteoclasts or microglia and is also known as the mononuclear phagocytic system (MPS). Essential cytokines to differentiate or activate these cells include GM-CSF or IL-4. Important markers for characterization include CD1, CD14, CD68, CD163 and CD206.

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A total of 51 sera from a migratory population of Burchell's zebras (Equus burchelli) were collected in the Serengeti National Park (Tanzania) between 1999 and 2001 to assess levels of exposure to equine herpesvirus types 1, 2, 4, 9 (EHV-1, -2, -4, -9), EHV-1 zebra isolate T965, and equine arteritis virus (EAV). Using virus-specific neutralizing antibody tests, seroprevalence was high for EHV-9 (60% of 45), moderate for EAV (24% of 51), and lower for the EHV-1-related zebra isolate (17% of 41), EHV-1 (14% of 49), and EHV-4 (2% of 50). No evidence for exposure to EHV-2 was found (0% of 51).

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Reported here are the results of antigenic and genetic characterisation of equine influenza strains causing local outbreaks reported to the Equine Diagnostic Centre in Berlin, Germany. In 2000, equine influenza virus was detected in a nasal swab from a non-vaccinated horse using a rapid diagnostic kit, but was not successfully isolated. Partial direct sequencing of the haemagglutinin (HA1) gene, indicated that the virus was a European lineage H3N8 subtype strain representative of strains isolated in several European countries during 2000.

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Equine herpesvirus type 4 (EHV-4) is a major respiratory pathogen of horses. Unlike most other members of the Alphaherpesvirinae, EHV-4 was regarded as non-neurotropic. Here, neural and lymphoid tissues of 17 horses have been analysed post-mortem.

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