Anti-α4 Antibody Treatment Blocks Virus Traffic to the Brain and Gut Early, and Stabilizes CNS Injury Late in Infection
Figure 6
Early natalizumab treatment blocks viral DNA expression in brain, but not gut and lymph nodes.
(A) SIV gag DNA was undetectable in all but one of the 24 brain tissue samples analyzed from animals treated with natalizumab on the day of SIV infection. (B) Similar viral DNA copy numbers were found in the duodenum and jejunum tissues of all macaques sacrificed at 22 dpi, regardless of treatment. The lowest concentrations of SIV DNA were present in the colon of natalizumab treated animals, in contrast to untreated macaques, which had much higher levels of SIV DNA in this region. (C) The number of proviral DNA copies was higher in the axillary lymph nodes of treated than in non-treated animals whereas SIV DNA was lower with natalizumab treatment in mesenteric lymph node tissue. Viral DNA copies were measured in duplicate. Each bar represents the mean ± SEM for each animal group. P values calculated using unpaired t tests. p≤0.01 **.