RĂSPUNSUL IMUN MEDIAT CELULAR LA CAIINFECTAŢI CU VIRUSUL ANEMIEI LNFECŢIOASE ECVINE.

The phagocytic function represents one of the important aspects of the innate immunity, while the blast transformation is a measure of the specific cell-mediated reactivity. In the present study we investigated the alterations of the cell-mediated immune response induced by equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) in eight EIAV positive animals compared to eight EIAV negative horses. Carbon particle inclusion test was used to monitor spontaneous innate phagocytosis, and the in vitro blast transformation test was performed with two experimental variants: untreated control and phytohaemaglutinin (PHA) M supplemented cultures (1 microliter/ml of culture). RPMI 1640 was the medium used to cultivate white blood cells. The spontaneous phagocytic activity was decreased in EIAV positive horses when compared to the EIAV negative ones. The spontaneous blast transformation capacity was slightly increased in infected horses (67.55 ± 13.59 %) compared to the healthy ones (68.99 ± 10.06 %), while the response to PHA M was decreased in positive horses (82.77± 7.19 %) versus the healthy individuals (80.37 ± 5.34%). The infection with equine anemia virus led to a decreased innate response while the specific cell-mediated reactivity was stronger, suggesting the activation of lymphocytes versus phagocytes subsequent to the infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]