Abstract
Influenza infection in the brain is not a common manifestation but various clinical cases with influenza associated neurological disorders have been reported. This study was undertaken to assess long‐term functional changes in the brain caused by neonatal influenza infection. Balb/c mice at postnatal day 5 were infected intraperitoneally with influenza virus (A/NWS/33) at a dose of LD50 (105 TCID50/ml). The brain metabolism of the survived mice was monitored with positron emission tomography at 10 weeks post infection (PI). Changes of fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in the brain were further analyzed by statistical parametric mapping (SPM). Consecutive behavioral tests including open field test, water maze test and rotarod test were also performed from 10 weeks PI. The SPM analysis revealed regional differences in FDG uptake in the infected mice. The affected brain regions were located around hippocampus, amygdala and thalamus. Influenza infected mice showed significant increase in the latency and distance during swimming in water maze test. Moreover, influenza infected mice showed decreased running time in accelerating rotarod test. However, no difference was observed in open field test. Our results suggest neonatal influenza infection could elicit learning impairment in the brain. Supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (2011‐0005442)
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