Macaque monkey type D retrovirus replicates in vitro in a distinct subpopulation of B lymphocytes

Type D retroviruses have recently been shown to induce a wasting syndrome with associated lymphadenopathy, thymic atrophy and transient decreased peripheral blood lymphocyte blastogenic responsiveness in juvenile macaque monkeys. The replication in vitro of D/New England virus was assessed in various lymphocyte subpopulations to determine the possible pathogenesis of the immune dysfunction induced by this virus. While D/New England did not replicate in cultured T lymphocytes or induce any demonstrable dysfunction of T cells in vitro, it did grow in the cells of the B lymphocyte lineage. D/New England growth occurred in vitro in African Burkitt's lymphoma and pre-B cell lines, but not in Epstein-Barr virus-transformed normal B lymphocytes. The infection of a restricted B lymphocyte population by this primate type D retrovirus may play a role in the aetiology of the immune abnormalities which it induces.