Reduced viral burden in paralytic compared to furious canine rabies is associated with prominent inflammation at the brainstem level

Table 3 Comparison of rabies viral antigen and RNA in major CNS regions in canine paralytic rabies

	Spinal cord		Brainstem		Cerebellum		Cerebral midline		Cerebrum
	(Mean ± SD)	P value	(Mean ± SD)	P value	(Mean ± SD)	P value	(Mean ± SD)	P value	(Mean ± SD)	P value
*% RABV antigen-positive neurons*
Spinal cord	75.19 ± 14.14			0.228		0.090		0.026		0.012
Brainstem		0.228	59.8 ± 36.94			0.201		0.104		0.047
Cerebellum		0.090		0.201	50.8 ± 30.78			0.124		0.047
Cerebral midline		0.026		0.104		0.124	29.53 ± 29.86			0.337
Cerebrum		0.012		0.047		0.047		0.337	18.95 ± 17.16
*% RABV antigen area in positive neuron*
Spinal cord	5.14 ± 0.92			0.148		0.013		0.013		0.013
Brainstem		0.148	3.29 ± 2.58			0.201		0.104		0.265
Cerebellum		0.013		0.201	1.87 ± 1.06			0.201		0.201
Cerebral midline		0.013		0.104		0.201	1.39 ± 1.13			0.265
Cerebrum		0.013		0.265		0.201		0.265	2.09 ± 1.65
*% RABV antigen-positive area per neuron*
Spinal cord	4.03 ± 0.28			0.089		0.013		0.013		0.013
Brainstem		0.089	2.74 ± 2.51			0.147		0.071		0.104
Cerebellum		0.013		0.147	1.18 ± 0.71			0.201		0.104
Cerebral midline		0.013		0.071		0.201	0.69 ± 0.88			0.500
Cerebrum		0.013		0.104		0.104		0.500	0.70 ± 0.69
*RABV RNA* (copies/μg total RNA) × 10⁸
Spinal cord	1.12 ± 1.26			0.148		0.441		0.228		0.441
Brainstem		0.148	2.27 ± 2.11			0.174		0.377		0.087
Cerebellum		0.441		0.174	1.52 ± 1.67			0.174		0.458
Cerebral midline		0.228		0.377		0.174	2.99 ± 2.78			0.125
Cerebrum		0.441		0.087		0.458		0.125	0.83 ± 0.77

ISSN: 1746-6148