Murtaugh M P, Lin G F, Haggard D L, Weber A F, Meiske J C
Departments of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul 55108.
J Virol Methods. 1991 Jun;33(1-2):73-85. doi: 10.1016/0166-0934(91)90009-o.
Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is widely distributed in U.S. cattle herds. It infects B lymphocytes and causes neoplastic disease in 5-10% of infected animals. Direct economic losses are incurred as a result of death, reduced milk production and condemnation at slaughter. Thus the identification of cattle infected with BLV is of significant concern to the U.S. cattle industry. For this reason, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification was used to examine seropositive and seronegative cattle for the presence of BLV DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Using an amplification protocol able to detect 1 viral genome in 100,000 cells, BLV was not detected in 7 seronegative cattle in an infected herd. BLV sequences were detected in 13 of 18 seropositive animals with various levels of infection as determined by in vitro lymphocyte culture and electron microscopy. An active infection was demonstrated in one animal, based on the presence of viral RNA. These findings indicate that PCR is a sensitive method for the detection of BLV in cattle and provides new information regarding the dynamics of the infection.
牛白血病病毒（BLV）广泛分布于美国的牛群中。它感染B淋巴细胞，并在5%-10%的受感染动物中引发肿瘤性疾病。由于死亡、牛奶产量下降以及屠宰时被判不合格，造成了直接经济损失。因此，牛白血病病毒感染牛的鉴定是美国养牛业极为关注的问题。出于这个原因，聚合酶链反应（PCR）扩增被用于检测血清反应阳性和血清反应阴性的牛外周血单个核细胞中是否存在BLV DNA。使用一种能够在100,000个细胞中检测到1个病毒基因组的扩增方案，在一个受感染牛群的7头血清反应阴性的牛中未检测到BLV。通过体外淋巴细胞培养和电子显微镜确定，在18头血清反应阳性的动物中有13头检测到了不同感染水平的BLV序列。基于病毒RNA的存在，在一只动物中证实存在活跃感染。这些发现表明，PCR是检测牛群中BLV的一种灵敏方法，并提供了有关感染动态的新信息。
