Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1994. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Effects of experimental feline leukemia virus infection on peripheral lymphocyte subsets.
Diss Abstr Int [B]; 54(5):2394 1993. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE ICDB/94698747 Nelson PD; North Carolina State Univ. at Raleigh
Abstract:
Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) is a retrovirus of cats that commonly causes immunosuppression and neoplasia of various cellular origins. FeLV-infected cats generally exhibit clinical symptoms of chronic infections, and reduced cell-mediated responses to antigen challenges, similar to humans infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). To determine if FeLV induces changes in peripheral blood lymphocyte subset numbers similar to those present in HIV patients, two groups of cats (FeLVR, FeLVR2) were experimentally infected with the Rickard strain of FeLV (FeLV(R).) Lymphocyte subset changes in infected cats included a pan-lymphopenia during the first 2 wk of infection, followed by a 10-wk delay in peak numbers of T-lymphocytes (CD4+ and CD8+ subsets) when compared to controls. One experimental group (FeLVR2) never attained control peak levels of T lymphocytes, and exhibited a significantly shorter median survival time. In one group of experimentally infected cats, a non-neutralizing B-lymphocytic response was evidenced by significantly higher B-cell numbers during the subacute-chronic stages of infection (10-30 wk pi) without development of protective FOCMA titers. Both groups exhibited a significantly more rapid depletion of peripheral T-lymphocyte subsets as the experimental disease advanced. Using the polymerase chain reaction amplification and Southern blot detection, it was determined that the CD4+ cell carried the greatest proviral burden in peripheral lymphocytes subsets during the latter phases of the disease. Though not conclusive, it was demonstrated that provirus infection of the peripheral CD8+ lymphocyte is also likely. FeLV provirus was not detected in circulating surface immunoglobulin positive lymphocytes. Phenotypic characterizations of FeLV induced lymphomas from multiple tissues are also described. Seven of nine FeLV induced thymic lymphosarcomas were composed of abnormally high percentages of CD4-CD8+ lymphocytes, while 4/9 thymic tumors exhibited a predominant CD4+CD8+ phenotype. Six of nine splenic lymphosarcomas were partly composed of lymphocytes with a null phenotype (Pan T-, CD4-CD8- , IgG-). The CD4+CD8- lymphocyte was under-represented in nearly all tissues examined. These results suggest that FeLV transforms a CD4+CD8+ precursor and that transformation results in a differentiation/maturation arrest at the CD4+CD8+ stage. (Full text available from University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI, as Order No. AAD93-27001)
Keywords: Animal B-Lymphocytes/MICROBIOLOGY/PATHOLOGY Blotting, Southern Cats Leukemia Virus, Feline/ISOLATION & PURIF Leukemia, Feline/*BLOOD/PATHOLOGY *Lymphocyte Subsets Lymphoma, Diffuse/MICROBIOLOGY Phenotype Polymerase Chain Reaction Proviruses/ISOLATION & PURIF T-Lymphocytes/MICROBIOLOGY/PATHOLOGY THESIS 940530
M9450893
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Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1994. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
