Detection of apoptosis induced in peripheral blood lymphocytes from cats infected with feline immunodeficiency virus.

Peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from cats infected with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) were examined for the occurrence of apoptosis after short-term culture. In the PBL from FIV-infected cats, changes in flow-cytometry scattergram, morphological characteristics of apoptosis and nucleosomal DNA fragmentation were observed. Percentages of apoptotic cells by flowcytometry analysis in PBL from FIV-infected cats (22.4%±9.4%) were significantly higher than those in PBL from uninfected control cats (9.2%±3.5%). The lymphocytes which underwent apoptosis included CD5, CD4 and sIgM cells, indicating that induction of apoptosis was not restricted to a special subset of lymphocytes. These findings provide evidence of the apoptotic state of PBL in cats with FIV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]