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Correction of a Murine Mammary Tumor Virus-associated Immunological Depression by Selective Immunosuppression with Cytosine Arabinoside¹

Department of Medicine, Roger Williams General Hospital and Division of Biomedical Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912

Mammary tumor virus (MTV) infection has been shown to be associated with a diminished hypersensitive reaction to methylated bovine serum albumin. Since methylated bovine serum albumin-induced hypersensitivity appears to be a mixed [humoral versus cell-mediated immunity (CMI)] reaction, the deficit in reactivity could be caused by, among other things, a direct depression of CMI or an increase in a humoral, blocking component. Assay of oxazolone-induced contact sensitivity and phytohemagglutinin-induced lymphocyte stimulation revealed normal or greater than normal CMI in MTV-positive animals. Treatment of MTV-positive and -negative animals with a regimen of cytosine arabinoside designed to inhibit only humoral immunity and leave CMI intact, corrected the deficit in methylated bovine serum albumin reactivity in MTV-positive mice. Thus, it is suggested that MTV infection may facilitate the production of interfering or blocking humoral immunity.

¹ This work was supported by Grants CA 13943 and G. M. 16538-05, and Fellowship 1-FO2, CA 4439801.

² Present address: Smith Kline & French Laboratories, 1500 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19101.

³ Present address: Department of Bacteriology, University of California at Davis, Davis, Calif. 95616.

Received 11/20/74. Accepted 6/19/75.