Systemic immune responses following infection with Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus and in the terminal stages of ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma

Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV) is the aetiological agent of ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma (OPA). To monitor changes in cellular immune function during JSRV infection, lymphoproliferation in response to various mitogens was measured in the blood of conventionally housed and specific-pathogen-free lambs experimentally infected with JSRV until the development of OPA and compared with uninfected control lambs. In addition, blood samples collected from adult field cases in the terminal stages of OPA and control adult sheep were compared. No difference in the proliferative response to phytohaemagglutinin and pokeweed mitogen between the animal groups was detected. In contrast, reduced responses to concanavalin A stimulation were demonstrated in the JSRV-inoculated lambs, prior to the onset of clinical disease, and also in the terminally ill adult sheep. Peripheral blood leukocytes were monitored to identify phenotypic frequency alterations. The CD4 lymphocytopaenia and neutrophilia reported previously in adult OPA cases were demonstrated but similar phenotypic changes were not identified during experimental infection.