Altered splenic T cell function of BALB/cByJ mice infected with mouse hepatitis virus or Sendai virus.
Mouse hepatitis virus and Sendai virus are among the most common viruses naturally infecting laboratory mice. Concanavalin A-stimulated in vitro proliferative responses of splenocytes were examined after infection of BALB/cByJ mice with the JHM strain of mouse hepatitis virus (MHV-JHM) or Sendai virus. Mice were exposed to these viruses by presumed natural routes (per os or intranasally). Immunodepression was marked but transient among BALB/cByJ mice exposed to MHV-JHM. Among mice exposed to Sendai virus and examined over a 21-day period, spleen cells from only one mouse, sacrificed 10 days postinoculation, exhibited a severely impaired ability to respond to concanavalin A. Lymphokine production by spleen cells from control and infected mice was then assessed. IL 2 was either absent or present at very low levels in culture supernates of concanavalin A-unresponsive spleen cells from MHV-JHM-infected mice. Spleen cells from the single Sendai virus-infected mouse also produced very low levels of IL 2. In contrast, IL 1 was detected in supernatants of all spleen cell cultures derived from control, MHV-JHM-infected, or Sendai virus-infected mice. There was not a clear correlation between concanavalin A responsiveness and the ability of spleen cells to produce interferon-gamma. These results stress the importance of using laboratory mice of known microbiological status for immunologic experiments.
D000818:Animals; D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006524:Hepatitis, Viral, Animal / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D007372:Interferons / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D008222:Lymphokines / Q000096:biosynthesis; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D006517:Murine hepatitis virus; D010222:Parainfluenza Virus 1, Human; D018184:Paramyxoviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D013154:Spleen / Q000473:pathology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
D008222:Lymphokines; D003208:Concanavalin A; D007372:Interferons