The sequential development of spongiform change and gliosis of scrapie in the golden Syrian hamster.

The lesion profiles of spongiform change and gliosis in the hamster occurring after intracerebral (IC) inoculation of scrapie virus, are calculated and compared to the lesion profile of spongiform change of scrapie in mice and of scrapie and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in the squirrel monkey. The profile of scrapie in hamsters differs considerably from that of a closely related strain of scrapie in mice, and both differ from scrapie and CJD in the squirrel monkey. These differences emphasize the effect of the host on the distribution of pathological changes in these unconventional virus infections. The sequential development of the lesions in the hamster shows that the earliest changes are detectable before the onset of clinical disease 49-57 days after inoculation, as assessed by light microscopy. Gliosis is detectable by indirect immunofluorescence 35-39 days after inoculation by use of a monoclonal antibody directed against astrocytes.