title: The microepidemiology of wasting syndrome, a common link to diarrheal disease, cancer, rabies, animal models of AIDS, and HIV-AIDS YHAIDS). The feline leukemia virus and rabies virus models.
abstract: Infant cats were inoculated intracranially with rabies or feline leukemia viruses in an experimental study of wasting syndrome. The daily pre- and postinoculation body weights were recorded until kittens were moribund. Affected animals in both groups manifested growth failure or wasting syndrome. Immunodepression, manifested by a conspicuous depletion of thymic cortex, the thymus dependent areas of the spleen, and growth hormone producing-alpha adenopituicytes was significantly (p less than 0.01) related to the wasting status of the animals. The ability of pituitary glands from these animals to produce growth hormone was studied by in situ immunoperoxidase staining and showed a significant (p less than 0.01) difference between healthy and wasted animals. Rabies and feline leukemia viruses were each found responsible for the low immunoreactivity of growth hormone producing alpha adenopituicytes. Because the hypothalamus and the hypophysis were both found infected, it was concluded that regardless of the triggering agent in primary wasting, the hypothalamic-hypophyseal-thymic axis was always involved through a decrease in growth hormone production.
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia.
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Tshikuka
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Torres-Anjel
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Blenden
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Elliott
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004614:Emaciation / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016181:Feline Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000378:metabolism; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000503:physiopathology; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D005256:Leukemia Virus, Feline / Q000502:physiology*; D011818:Rabies / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011820:Rabies virus / Q000502:physiology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013577:Syndrome; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D013006:Growth Hormone