Mechanism of T cell immunosuppression by infectious bursal disease virus of chickens.

Spleen cells of chickens infected with IBDV responded poorly to in vitro stimulation with Con A. The mitogenic hyporesponsiveness was due to the presence of suppressor cells that could be removed by pretreatment of IS cells with carbonyl iron or cytodex-3 microcarrier beads. Addition of suppressor cells to normal spleen cells prevented the normal cells from responding to mitogen. Cell-to-cell contact between responder and suppressor cells was not necessary for suppression to occur; the effect was mediated by soluble product(s) released by the suppressor cells. IS cells were also deficient in producing mitogen-induced IL-2 and addition of exogenous IL-2 did not restore mitogenic response of IS.