Torten M, Dandekar S, Sparger EE, Rideout BA, Luciw PA, Pedersen NC; International Conference on AIDS.
Int Conf AIDS. 1990 Jun 20-23; 6: 99 (abstract no. S.A.13).
University of California, Davis, CA, USA
OBJECTIVE: Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is a T-lymphotropic cytopathic lentivirus associated with a fatal AIDS-like disease in cats that is characterized by lymphoid depletion, severe weight loss, diarrhea, and infection with a variety of opportunistic pathogens. Cats infected with FIV show a long latent period, lasting 2 or more years, before development of disease. We tested the notion that the feline leukemia virus (FeLV), an oncornavirus of cats, may be a co-factor for disease progression in this system. METHODS: Experimental co-infection of cats with FIV and FeLV led to rapid development (less than 3 months) of fatal FAIDS. Cats infected with either FIV alone or FeLV alone have shown only mild clinical symptoms and have remained relatively healthy for more than 6 months. Tissue distribution of FIV was assessed by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique and by in situ hybridization with probes specific for FIV. RESULTS: FIV DNA and RNA were detected in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) and lymph nodes of cats infected with FIV alone or with both FIV and FeLV. FIV DNA and RNA were present in about 10-fold higher quantities in these tissues of co-infected cats than in singly infected cats. In addition, only co-infected cats contained detectable FIV in kidney, liver, intestine, and brains. The level of FeLV in co-infected cats was similar to that in cats infected only with FeLV. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that FeLV acts as a co-factor for enhancing FIV replication in co-infected animals. Analysis of the role of co-factors in the FIV-FAIDS animal model system may have implications for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and AIDS in humans.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- Animals
- Cats
- Disease Progression
- Feline Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
- HIV
- Humans
- Immunodeficiency Virus, Feline
- In Situ Hybridization
- Leukemia Virus, Feline
- Retroviridae
- Retroviridae Infections
Other ID:
UI: 102195865
From Meeting Abstracts