Infectious transmission of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type II in
rabbits
GL Cockerell, MG Weiser, J Rovnak, B Wicks-Beard, B Roberts, A Post, IS Chen and MD Lairmore
Department of Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 80523.
To determine the susceptibility of rabbits to experimental infection with
human T-cell lymphotropic virus type-II (HTLV-II), four separate groups of
four weanling rabbits each were inoculated intravenously with lethally
irradiated HTLV-II-infected human cell lines Mo-T (HTLV-IIMo- infected T
cells), WIL-NRA (an Epstein-Barr virus [EBV]-transformed B- lymphoblastoid
cell line infected with HTLV-IINRA), 729pH6neo (an EBV- transformed
lymphoblastoid cell line transfected with a molecular clone of HTLV-IIMo),
or G12.1 (HTLV-II-infected T cells from a Panamanian Guaymi Indian). Two
additional groups of four rabbits each were similarly inoculated with
control uninfected 729 or HuT 78 cells. Early and persistent seroconversion
to HTLV-II core antigen p24, as determined by Western immunoblot, occurred
in all HTLV-II-inoculated rabbits and was most intense in rabbits
inoculated with G12.1 cells; seroreactivity to other HTLV-II gag or env
antigens occurred later, with less intensity, or not in all inoculated
rabbits. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and other lymphoid cells
from HTLV-II- inoculated rabbits produced minimal p24 in vitro, as
determined by enzyme immunosorbent capture assay. Virus was more readily
detected by polymerase chain reaction amplification of HTLV-II pol
sequences; this occurred most frequently in rabbits inoculated with Mo-T
cells, and most frequently in PBMC as compared with other tissues tested
(bone marrow, brain, and liver). No evidence of disease occurred in
HTLV-II- inoculated rabbits observed for as long as 24 weeks. All control
rabbits remained negative for evidence of HTLV-II infection, as determined
by the same procedures. These results provide the first evidence of HTLV-II
infection in a species other than humans, and demonstrate the usefulness of
the rabbit as an animal model to study the biologic response to different
isolates of this human retrovirus.
Volume 78,
Issue 6,
pp. 1532-1537,
09/15/1991
Copyright © 1991 by The American Society of Hematology
