Immunomodulative effects of bovine immunodeficiency-like virus (BIV)-infection and mixed infection of BIV and bovine leukemia virus on sheep

Experimental bovine immunodeficiency-like virus (BIV)-infection and mixed infection of BIV and bovine leukemia Virus (BLV) were performed on sheep. BIV proviral DNA and anti-BIV antibodies were persistently detected in all BIV-inoculated sheep. A slight increase in lymphocyte counts was observed in BIV-infected sheep, but the percentages of CD4(+) and CD8(+) cells in sheep peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were not significantly changed. A transient decrease in lymphocyte blastogenic response to concanavalin A was observed in two of three BIV-infected sheep at 3-6 months after inoculation. From 6 months after BLV-inoculation to sheep which were previously infected with BIV, the numbers of lymphocytes expressing a tumor-associated antigen (TAA) of bovine leukosis were increased compared to those of a sheep inoculated with BLV alone. The BLV titers in PBMCs and the antibody titers against BLV from sheep infected with both BIV and BLV were higher than those of a sheep inoculated with BLV alone.