Influenza infection triggers disease in a genetic model of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

Significance Peripheral infections exacerbate symptoms of many neurological diseases, including the most common autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS), multiple sclerosis (MS). We demonstrate that influenza viral infection of autoimmune-prone mice triggers clinical and histological disease. We further show that influenza infection alters the transcriptome of the central nervous system and facilitates immune cell trafficking to the brain. Finally, we identified a specific chemokine that is upregulated in the CNS during infection that is also increased in the cerebrospinal fluid of MS patients during relapse. These observations improve our understanding of how peripheral infection may act to exacerbate neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis.