Tenaya IWM, Heel K, Stumbles PA, Wilcox GE. Flow cytometric analysis of lymphocyte subset kinetics in Bali cattle experimentally infected with Jembrana disease virus.
Vet Immunol Immunopathol 2012;
149:167-76. [PMID:
22776774 DOI:
10.1016/j.vetimm.2012.06.013]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2011] [Revised: 04/24/2012] [Accepted: 06/11/2012] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Jembrana disease virus (JDV) is an unusual bovine lentivirus that causes an acute and sometimes fatal disease after a short incubation period in Bali cattle (Bos javanicus). The pathological changes occur primarily in lymphoid tissues, which feature proliferating lymphoblastoid-like cells predominantly throughout parafollicular (T-cell) areas, and atrophy of follicles (B-cell) areas. Five Bali cattle were experimentally infected with JDV and all developed typical clinical signs of Jembrana disease characterised by a transient febrile response, enlargement of superficial lymph nodes and a significant leukopenia. Flow cytometric analysis of PBMC during the acute (febrile) disease phase showed that the reduced number of lymphocytes was due to a significant decrease in both the proportion and absolute numbers of CD4(+) T cells, but not CD8(+) T-cells or CD21(+) B-cells. At the end of the febrile phase, total numbers of both CD8(+) T-cells and CD21(+) B-cells increased significantly, while CD4(+) T-cell numbers remained below normal values, resulting in a significantly reduced CD4(+):CD8(+) ratio. We speculate that the persistent depletion of CD4(+) T cells following JDV infection, through lack of CD4(+) T cell help to B cells, may explain the lack of production of JDV-specific antibodies for several weeks after recovery despite an increase in CD21(+) B cell numbers. Further, our previous data showing that IgG(+) plasma cells are targets for JDV infection, correlated with our current data demonstrating an increase in CD8(+) T cell numbers, supports the suggestion that anti-viral cytotoxic T cell or other cell-mediated immune responses may be critical in the recovery process, although this remains to be formally demonstrated for JDV.
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