IMMUNOANALYSIS OF IGG AND IGM MOLECULES ON THE SURFACE OF BLV INFECTED CATTLE LYMPHOCYTES

The BLV-infected animals were divided into lymphocytotic (9 animals: B LV+PL+) and non lymphocytotic (11 animals: BLV+PL-). BLV-free animals formed a control group (7 animals: BLV-PL-). Flow cytometry immunofluo rescence (FAGS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to ev aluate the expression of IgG and IgM molecules on the surface of the l ymphocytes of cattle infected with the bovine leukaemia virus (BLV). T he percentage of IgM-bearing cells was significantly higher in the BLV +PL+ (75% and 74%) than in BLV+PL- (43% and 50%) and BLV-PL- (39% and 44%) groups by FAGS and SEM respectively. The percentage of IgG-bearin g cells was higher in BLV+PL+ (6%) and BLV+PL- (8%) compared to BLV-PL - (0.7%) determined by FAGS and significantly higher in BLV+PL+ (62%) in relation to BLV+PL- (17%) and BLV-PL- (8%) groups ascertained by SE M. A significantly higher intensity of IgM expression was observed in the BLV+PL+ group by SEM and FAGS; a higher intensity of IgG expressio n in BLV+PL+ group was detected only by SEM. The results suggest that FAGS and SEM are complementary. The finding of significant differences in the expression of IgG molecules in BLV+ groups compared with BLV- animals confirms the sensitivity of the SEM method.