6th International AIDS Conference San Francisco, California, USA — June 20-23, 1990

Int Conf AIDS 1990 Jun 20-23; 6:333 (abstract no. 1078)
Barlough JE, George JW, Levy N, Acevedo R, Moore P, Rideout B, Pedersen NC; University of California, Davis, CA, USA

OBJECTIVE: Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) was first recovered from cats in California with an AIDS-like illness. Subsequent investigation has shown that FIV infection is associated with an initial, transient illness, an intervening latent period measured in years, and a secondary AIDS-like disease, all of which resemble the activity of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in people. The objective was to determine if immunologic abnormalities--specifically, impaired lymphocyte blastogenesis and loss of CD4+ T cells--occur in FIV-infected cats.

METHODS: Blastogenesis responses were measured by means of a whole-blood lymphocyte stimulation microassay. CD4/CD8 levels were determined by fluorescence-activated flow cytometry using monoclonal antibodies to feline CD4 and CD8. Cats with short-term as well as long-term FIV infections were studied, and matched to appropriate uninfected control cats.

RESULTS: Blastogenesis responses were depressed in cats with long-term FIV infections, despite normal levels of circulating lymphocytes. CD4/CD8 ratios tended to decrease as the length of infection time increased.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that significant alteration of lymphocyte responsiveness and CD4+ T cell levels occurs in FIV-infected cats, adding further support for the FIV system as an animal model for human AIDS.

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