EFFECT OF LITHIUM IN MURINE IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS-INFECTED ANIMALS

Murine AIDS (MAIDS) is a disease that shows many similarities to human HIV infection. The etiological agent of MAIDS is a defective murine l eukemia virus that seems to be able to induce disease in the absence o f viral replication. This animal model has been useful in stimulating the search of answers to questions and the formation of new hypotheses related to human AIDS. The monovalent cation lithium can influence a number of immunohematopoietic cell types and cellular processes where proliferation and differentiation occur. We describe here the result o f in vivo studies investigating the effect of lithium treatment on MAI DS-infected mice. Viral control and lithium-treated animals were monit ored for survival and development of MAIDS pathology. MAIDS animals tr eated with lithium demonstrated a marked reduction in their developmen t of lymphadenopathy and splenomegaly. Both MAIDS control and lithium- treated virus-infected mice developed evidence of lymphoma; however, t he involvement was much more massive both at the gross and microscopic levels in the MAIDS control compared with the lithium-treated mice. T hese data suggest that lithium may be effective in modulating murine i mmunodeficiency virus infection and raise important questions related to the potential role lithium may play in the pathophysiological proce sses associated with retroviral infections.