Alan C. Jackson, BA, MD, FRCPC

Adjunct Professor, Department of Medicine (Neurology), Queen's University

Associate Staff, Department of Medicine (Neurology), Kingston General Hospital

Professor, Department of Internal Medicine (Neurology), University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB

Professor, Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB

Head, Section of Neurology, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Winnipeg, MB

Health Sciences Centre, GF-541, 820 Sherbrook Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3A 1R9

Voice: 204-787-1742; Fax 204-787-1486; E-mail: ajackson2@hsc.mb.ca

1. Viral Infections of the Nervous System. 2. Rabies Pathogenesis. 3. Neural Apoptosis

Animal models and human tissues are used to study the pathogenesis of acute viral infections of the nervous system. Rabies virus infection causes a severe encephalomyelitis in mice, and this is a convenient model for studying virus-host interactions. The pathogenetic basis for the neuronal dysfunction that occurs in rabies is poorly understood. Molecular approaches are being used to examine the basis of rabies virus neurovirulence. The role of neural apoptosis is being evaluated in a variety of animal models of experimental rabies. Hopefully, these approaches will give us a better understanding of basic mechanisms involved in rabies and contribute to the development of improved therapies for viral infections.

This picture shows in situ hybridization of a rabies virus-infected ventral horn cell of the spinal cord of a mouse with grains in the cytoplasm and dendritic processes that represent rabies virus mRNA.
  1. Jackson AC: Rabies pathogenesis update. Pan-Amazonian Journal of Health (In press).
  2. Jackson AC, Ronald AR, Steiner I: Plagiarism (Letter). Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (In press).
  3. Gilron I, Bailey JM, Tu D, Holden RR, Jackson AC, Houlden RL: Nortriptyline and gabapentin, alone and in combination for neuropathic pain: a double-blind, randomised crossover trial. The Lancet 374:1252-1261, 2009.[PDF]
  4. Jackson AC: Therapy of rabies encephalitis (Editorial). Biomédica 29:169-176, 2009.[PDF]
  5. Rossiter JP, Hsu L, Jackson AC: Selective vulnerability of dorsal root ganglia neurons in experimental rabies after peripheral inoculation of CVS-11 in adult mice. Acta Neuropathologica 118:249-259, 2009.[PDF]
  6. Jackson AC: Rabies. In: Gilman S, Johnson RT, eds. Medlink Neurology. San Diego: MedLink, 2009.
  7. Jackson AC: Update on rabies diagnosis and treatment. Current Infectious Disease Reports 11:296-301, 2009.[PDF]
  8. Jackson AC: Rabies. In: Rakel RE, Bope ET, eds. Conn's Current Therapy 2009, pp 130-131. Philadelphia: Elsevier, 2009.
  9. Jackson AC, Randle E, Lawrance G, Rossiter JP: Neuronal apoptosis does not play an important role in human rabies encephalitis. Journal of Neurovirology 14:368-375, 2008.[PDF]
  10. Wilde H, Hemachudha T, Jackson AC: Viewpoint: Management of human rabies. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 102:979-982, 2008.[PDF]
  11. Jackson AC: Rabies. Neurologic Clinics 26:717-726, 2008.[PDF]
  12. Jackson AC, Scott CA, Owen J, Weli SC, Rossiter JP: Human rabies therapy: lessons learned from experimental studies in mouse models. In: Dodet B, Fooks AR, Muller T, Tordo N, eds. Towards the elimination of rabies in Eurasia. Developmental Biology (Karger, Basel) 131:377-385, 2008.
  13. Mansfield KL, Johnson N, Nunez A, Hicks D, Jackson AC, Fooks AR: Up-regulation of chemokine gene transcripts and T-cell infiltration into the central nervous system and dorsal root ganglia are characteristics of experimental European bat lyssavirus type 2 infection of mice. Journal of Neurovirology 14:218-228, 2008.[PDF]
  14. Jackson AC: Rabies. In: Rakel RE, Bope ET, eds. Conn's Current Therapy 2008, pp 131-133. Philadelphia: Elsevier, 2008.
  15. Guyatt GH, Cass CE, Jackson AC, Smith DH, Welch JP, Turk J: Protecting academic freedom. Open Medicine 2:e17-e19, 2008. http://www.openmedicine.ca.
  16. Jackson AC, Johannsen EC: Rabies and other rhabdovirus infections. In: Fauci AS, Kasper DL, Braunwald E, Hauser SL, Longo DL, Jameson JL, Loscaizo J, eds. Harrison’s principles of internal medicine, 17th Edition, pp 1222-1226. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008.
  17. Scott CA, Rossiter JP, Andrew RD, Jackson AC: Structural abnormalities in neurons are sufficient to explain the clinical disease and fatal outcome in experimental rabies in yellow fluorescent protein-expressing transgenic mice. Journal of Virology 82:513-521, 2008.[PDF]
  18. Jackson AC: Arboviral encephalitis. In: Gilman S, Johnson RT, eds. Medlink Neurology. San Diego: MedLink, 2008.
  19. Jackson AC: Herpes simplex encephalitis. In: Gilman S, Johnson RT, eds. Medlink Neurology. San Diego: MedLink, 2008.
  20. Taylor SW, Lee DH, Jackson AC: Herpes simplex encephalitis presenting with exclusively frontal lobe involvement. Journal of Neurovirology 13:477-481, 2007.[PDF]
  21. Jackson AC, Wunner WH, eds. Rabies, Second Edition. London: Elsevier Academic Press, 2007.
    22. [Review by A. Tselis in Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 2008]
  22. Jackson AC: Human disease. In: Jackson AC, Wunner WH, eds. Rabies, Second Edition. pp 309-340. London: Elsevier Academic Press, 2007.
  23. Jackson AC: Pathogenesis. In: Jackson AC, Wunner WH, eds. Rabies, Second Edition. pp 341-381. London: Elsevier Academic Press, 2007.
  24. Rossiter JP, Jackson AC: Pathology. In: Jackson AC, Wunner WH, eds. Rabies, Second Edition. pp 383-409. London: Elsevier Academic Press, 2007.
  25. Jackson AC: Future developments and challenges. In: Jackson AC, Wunner WH, eds. Rabies, Second Edition. pp 635-643. London: Elsevier Academic Press, 2007.
  26. Jackson AC, Scott CA, Owen J, Weli SC, Rossiter JP: Therapy with minocycline aggravates experimental rabies in mice. Journal of Virology 81:6248-6253, 2007.[PDF]
  27. Jackson AC: Viral meningitis and encephalitis. In: Schapira AHV, Byrne E, DiMauro S, Frackowiak RSJ, Johnson RT, Mizuno Y, Samuels MA, Silberstein SD, Wszolek ZK, eds. Neurology and clinical neuroscience, pp 1249-1259. Mosby Elsevier, 2007.
  28. Hemachudha T, Sunsaneewitayakul B, Desudchit T, Suankratay C, Sittipunt C, Wacharapluesadee S, Khawplod P, Wilde H, Jackson AC: Failure of therapeutic coma and ketamine for therapy of human rabies. Journal of Neurovirology 12:407-409, 2006.[PDF]
  29. Weli SC, Scott CA, Ward CA, Jackson AC: Rabies virus infection of primary neuronal cultures and adult mice: failure to demonstrate evidence of excitotoxicity. Journal of Virology 80:10270-10273, 2006.[PDF]
  30. Jackson AC, Rossiter JP, Lafon M: Expression of Toll-like receptor 3 in the human cerebellar cortex in rabies, herpes simplex encephalitis, and other neurological diseases. Journal of Neurovirology 12:229-234, 2006.[PDF]
  31. Jackson AC: Bat rabies virus variants causing human rabies (Letter). Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal 25:570, 2006.[PDF]
  32. Jackson AC: Rabies: new insights into pathogenesis and treatment. Current Opinion in Neurology 19:267-270, 2006.[PDF]
  33. Jackson AC: Rabies. In: Johnson RT, Griffin JW, McArthur JC, eds. Current therapy in neurologic disease, Seventh Edition, pp 142-144. Philadelphia: Elsevier, 2006.
  34. Jackson AC, Rasalingam P, Weli SC: Comparative pathogenesis of recombinant rabies vaccine strain SAD-L16 and SAD-D29 with replacement of Arg333 in the glycoprotein after peripheral inoculation of neonatal mice: less neurovirulent strain is a stronger inducer of neuronal apoptosis. Acta Neuropathologica 111:372-378, 2006.[PDF]
  35. Sarmento L, Li X, Howerth E, Jackson AC, Fu ZF: Glycoprotein-mediated induction of apoptosis limits the spread of attenuated rabies viruses in the central nervous system of mice. Journal of Neurovirology 11:571-581, 2005.[PDF]
  36. Jackson AC: Recovery from rabies (Editorial) New England Journal of Medicine 352:2549-2550, 2005.[PDF]
  37. Jackson AC: Transmission of rabies from an organ donor (Letter). New England Journal of Medicine 352:2551, 2005.[PDF]
  38. Rasalingam P, Rossiter JP, Mebatsion T, Jackson AC: Comparative pathogenesis of the SAD-L16 strain of rabies virus and a mutant modifying the dynein light chain binding site of the rabies virus phosphoprotein in young mice. Virus Research 111:55-60, 2005.[PDF]
  39. Sheikh KA, Ramos-Alvarez M, Jackson AC, Li CY, Asbury AK, Griffin JW: Overlap of pathology in paralytic rabies and axonal Guillain-Barré syndrome. Annals of Neurology 57:768-772, 2005.[PDF]
  40. Rasalingam P, Rossiter JP, Jackson AC: Recombinant rabies virus vaccine strain SAD-L16 inoculated intracerebrally in young mice produces a severe encephalitis with extensive neuronal apoptosis. Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research 69:100-105, 2005.[PDF]
  41. Jackson AC: Rabies. In: Power C, Johnson RT, eds. Emerging neurological infections, pp 189-205, Boca Raton, Florida: Taylor and Francis, 2005.
  42. Jackson AC, Fu ZF: Pathogenesis of rabies (Editorial). Journal of Neurovirology 11:74-75, 2005.[PDF]
  43. Fu ZF, Jackson AC: Neuronal dysfunction and death in rabies virus infection. Journal of Neurovirology 11:101-106, 2005.[PDF]
  44. Rutherford M, Jackson AC: Neuronal apoptosis in immunodeficient mice infected with the challenge virus standard strain of rabies virus by intracerebral inoculation. Journal of Neurovirology 10:409-413, 2004.[PDF]
  45. Jackson AC: Screening of organ and tissue donors for rabies (Letter). Lancet 364:2094-2095, 2004.[PDF]
  46. Vos A, Müller T, Neubert L, Zurbriggen A, Botteron C, Pöhle D, Schoon H, Haas L, Jackson AC: Rabies in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) experimentally infected with European bat lyssavirus type 1 (EBLV-1). Journal of Veterinary Medicine, Series B - Infectious Diseases and Veterinary Public Health 51:327-332, 2004.[PDF]
  47. Jackson AC: Therapy of West Nile infection (Editorial). Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences 31:131-134, 2004.[PDF]
  48. Jackson AC: Rabies virus. In: Aminoff MJ, Daroff RB, eds. Encyclopedia of the Neurological Sciences, Volume 4, pp 99-101. San Diego: Academic Press, 2003.[PDF]
  49. Jackson AC: Rabies virus infection: an update. Journal of Neurovirology 9:253-258, 2003.[PDF]
  50. Jackson AC: Rabies. Current Treatment Options in Infectious Diseases 5:35-40, 2003.[PDF]
  51. Jackson AC, Warrell MJ, Rupprecht CE, Ertl HCJ, Dietzschold B, O'Reilly M, Leach RP, Fu ZF, Wunner WH, Bleck TP, Wilde H: Management of rabies in humans. Clinical Infectious Diseases 36:60-63, 2003.[PDF]
  52. Jackson AC: Rabies pathogenesis (Editorial). Journal of Neurovirology 8:267-269, 2002.[PDF]
  53. Jackson AC: Update on rabies. Current Opinion in Neurology 15:327-331, 2002.[PDF]
  54. Jackson AC, Wunner WH, eds. Rabies. San Diego: Academic Press, 2002.
    55. [Poster][Review by I.M.S. Sawhney in Brain 127:1210-1, 2004][Review by B.W.J. Mahy in Virus Research 104:99, 2004][Review by Richard T. Johnson in Annals of Neurology 53:422, 2003][Review by Henry Wilde in Clinical Infectious Diseases 36:241-2, 2003][Review by Mary Warrell in Microbiology Today 30, 2003]
  55. Jackson AC: Human disease. In: Jackson AC, Wunner WH, eds. Rabies, pp 219-244. San Diego: Academic Press, 2002.
  56. Jackson AC: Pathogenesis. In: Jackson AC, Wunner WH, eds. Rabies, pp 245-282. San Diego: Academic Press, 2002.
  57. Jackson AC: Future developments and challenges. In: Jackson AC, Wunner WH, eds. Rabies, pp 473-479. San Diego: Academic Press, 2002.
  58. Jackson AC, Melanson M, Rossiter JP: Familial herpes simplex encephalitis. Annals of Neurology 51:406-407, 2002.[PDF]
  59. Reid JE, Jackson AC: Experimental rabies infection in Artibeus jamaicensis bats with CVS-24 variants. Journal of Neurovirology 7:511-517, 2001.[PDF]
  60. Jackson AC, Ye H, Ridaura-Sanz C, Lopez-Corella E: Quantitative study of the infection in brain neurons in human rabies. Journal of Medical Virology 65:614-618, 2001. [PDF]
  61. Jackson AC, Fenton MB: Human rabies and bat bites (Letter). Lancet 357:1714, 2001. [PDF]
  62. Jackson AC: Rabies. Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences 27:278-282, 2000.[PDF]
  63. Jackson AC, Phelan CC, Rossiter JP: Infection of Bergmann glia in the cerebellum of a skunk experimentally infected with street rabies virus. Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research 64:226-228, 2000. [PDF]
  64. Jackson AC: Rabies. Current Treatment Options in Neurology 2:369-373, 2000.
  65. Jackson AC, Park H: Experimental rabies virus infection of p75 neurotrophin receptor - deficient mice. Acta Neuropathologica 98:641-644, 1999. [PDF]
  66. Irwin DJ, Wunner WH, Ertl HCJ, Jackson AC: Basis of rabies virus neurovirulence in mice: expression of major histocompatibility complex class I and class II mRNAs. Journal of Neurovirology 5:485-494, 1999.[PDF]
  67. Jackson AC, Ye H, Phelan CC, Ridaura-Sanz C, Zheng Q, Li Z, Wan X, Lopez-Corella E: Extraneural organ involvement in human rabies. Laboratory Investigation 79:945-951, 1999.
  68. Jackson AC: Apoptosis in experimental rabies in bax-deficient mice. Acta Neuropathologica 98:288-294, 1999. [PDF]
  69. Jackson AC, Park H: Apoptotic cell death in experimental rabies in suckling mice. Acta Neuropathologica 95:159-164, 1998. [PDF]
  70. Jackson AC, Rossiter, JP: Apoptosis plays an important role in experimental rabies virus infection. Journal of Virology 71:5603-5607, 1997. [PDF]
  71. Jackson AC, Rossiter JP: Apoptotic cell death is an important cause of neuronal injury in experimental Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus infection in mice. Acta Neuropathologica 93:349-353, 1997. [PDF]
  72. Jackson AC: Rabies. In Nathanson N, Ahmed R, Gonzalez-Scarano F, Griffin D, Holmes K, Murphy FA, Robinson HL, eds. Viral Pathogenesis, pp 575-591. Philadelphia: Lippincott - Raven, 1997.
  73. Jackson AC, Lopez-Corella E: Images in clinical medicine: Rabies. New England Journal of Medicine 335:568, 1996.
  74. Lopez-Corella E, Jackson AC: Rabies without Negri bodies: Detection of rabies virus at autopsy by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. Patologia (Mexico) 34:39-41, 1996.
  75. Jackson AC: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (Letter). New England Journal of Medicine 334:1271, 1996.
  76. Jackson AC: Acute viral infections. Current Opinion in Neurology 8:170-174, 1995.
  77. Jackson AC: The fatal neurologic illness of the fourth Duke of Richmond in Canada: Rabies. Annals of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada 27:40-41, 1994.[PDF]
  78. Jackson AC: Animal models of rabies virus neurovirulence. In: Rupprecht CE, Dietzschold B, Koprowski H, eds. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, Volume 187: Lyssaviruses, pp 85-93. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1994.
  79. Jackson AC: Cholinergic system in experimental rabies in mice. Acta Virologica 37:502-508, 1993.
  80. Yang C, Jackson AC: Basis of neurovirulence of avirulent rabies virus variant Av01 with stereotaxic brain inoculation in mice. Journal of General Virology 73:895-900, 1992.
  81. Jackson AC, Wunner WH: Detection of rabies virus genomic RNA and mRNA in mouse and human brains by using in situ hybridization. Journal of Virology 65: 2839-2844, 1991. [PDF]
  82. Jackson AC: Biological basis of rabies virus neurovirulence in mice: Comparative pathogenesis study using the immunoperoxidase technique. Journal of Virology 65:537-540, 1991. [PDF]

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Updated November 4, 2009