Replication of the pseudorabies virus in cultured pancreatic islet cells: further evidence of their paraneuronal nature.

Pancreatic B cells are known to be damaged by a wide range of viruses, causing diabetes. Though these viruses belong to different taxonomic groups, their single shared characteristic is neurotropism. In the present study, pseudorabies viral infection was modelled on fetal porcine islets cultivated in vitro. It was demonstrated that the endocrine cells of the pancreas, especially B cells, were infected in vitro and so served as a medium for the replication of the virus. All stages of the morphogenesis of the virus were observed ultrastructurally within the cells. The exocrine cells located close to the endocrine ones were free from attachment and invasion of the virus. The potential of the pseudorabies virus to develop within pancreatic endocrine cells is regarded as evidence of the paraneuronal nature of these cells.