Sex-dependent effects of chronic restraint stress during early Theiler's virus infection on the subsequent demyelinating disease in CBA mice

Chronic restraint stress, administered during early infection with Theiler's virus, was found to exacerbate the acute CNS viral infection in male and female mice. During the subsequent demyelinating phase of disease (a model of multiple sclerosis), the effect of stress on disease progression was sex-dependent. Previously stressed male mice had less severe behavioral signs of the chronic phase, better rotarod performance and decreased inflammatory lesions of the spinal cord, while the opposite pattern was observed in females. In addition, mice in all groups developed autoantibodies to MBP, PLP139-151 and MOG33-55.