RAT CATARACT INDUCED BY SUCKLING MOUSE CATARACT AGENT

Inoculation of newborn albino rats with the suckling mouse cataract agent caused cataract(s) in 97.5% of test animals. This incidence of cataracts exceeds that observed in any strain of mice examined to date. SMCA-inoculated rats developed severe uniformly opaque cataracts consistently (98% of diseased eyes) and at an early age (by 25 days after inoculation). Subsequently, about 30% of rats developed severe inflammation of the eyelids and adnexa. Histopathologic studies of affected eyes revealed an initial posterior uveitis followed by retinitis and cataract development. The disease often progressed further to panophthalmitis and phthisis bulbi. Viral studies revealed an acute visceral infection and a chronic infection of the rat brain. Suckling mouse cataract agent was recovered from all eyes of rats killed between two and 25 days of age. A particularly high concentration of virus recovered from eyes between seven and 15 days after inoculation may explain the high incidence and severity of eye disease observed. © 1969.