The Contribution Of Bovine Leukemia-Virus Infected B-Cells To The Number Of Circulating B-Cells In Cattle

This study used a combination of single antigen immunoperoxidase staining for bovine leukaemia virus (BLV) p24 capsid antigen and IgM to enumerate the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) infected with BLV and the number of B-cells, respectively. A significant relationship was found between the number of BLV-infected PBMCs and the number of circulating B-cells. A model was created that predicted the number of circulating B-cells using the number of BLV-infected PBMCs. These data also show that the percentage of B-cells in PBMCs preparations is not affected by 24 h of in vitro culture when LPS is added to the culture medium. Double antigen labelling showed that the majority of circulating B-cells were infected with BLV in some BLV-seropositive cattle that were not persistently lymphocytotic.