Distinct humoral and cellular immune response to an immunogenic caprine arthritis encephalitis virus p25-Gag peptide in homozygous goats of differentMHC-haplotypes

We have demonstrated an association of the caprine class I MHC antigen Bel marked haplotype and onset of caprine arthritis (CAE) (RUFF et al., 1993). Therefore, we have backcrossed Bel-D5 haplotype carriers as well as goats e xpressing an none disease-associated haplotype Be10-D2 in order to explore potential differences in their respective immune responses. We immunnized 6 homozygous animals per group with a synthetic peptide containing a B- and T- cell epitope. A rapid humoral response paralleled by a consistent prolif erative response was detected for the majority of the Be10-D2 line in contr ast to the Bel-D5 line, suggesting a genetic impairment of the immune respo nse to this peptide in the Eel-marked haplotye-expressing goats.