BOVINE LEUKEMIA VIRUS-INDUCED CLINICAL SIGNS AND MORPHOLOGICAL-CHANGES OF ENCEPHALITOZOONOSIS IN RABBITS

Fourteen three-month-old rabbits spontaneously-infected with the micro sporidium Encephalitozoon cuniculi Levaditi, Nicolau et Schoen, 1923 w ere inoculated intravenously with lymphocytes (Ly) from seropositive b ovine leukemia virus infected cattle (Ly/BLV) or with fetal lamb kidne y cells infected with bovine fetal leukemia (FLK/BLV). Thirteen rabbit s were seropositive to BLV at least for a period of three months. Six rabbits died of pulmonary lesions. Chronic inflammatory lesions of enc ephalitozoonosis were found in six rabbits killed between 454 and 548 days of the observation period. Five animals bore subcutaneous granulo mas. Immunohistochemically, E. cuniculi was demonstrated in the inflam matory lesions of rabbits studied. Control animals also spontaneously infected with E. cuniculi did not show clinical signs of encephalitozo onosis. Morphological changes were found incidentally in the form of s mall glial foci and focal interstitial nephritis in these animals. The combined action of BLV -E. cuniculi on the bodies of rabbits is propo sed as a suitable model for the study of encephalitozoonosis in man wi th human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.