Cytokine secretion in stem cells of cattle infected with bovine leukaemia virus

Bovine leukaemia virus (BLV) is a Deltaretrovirus responsible for enzootic bovine leukosis, the most common neoplastic disease of cattle. It deregulates the immune system, favouring secondary infections and changes in the blood and lymphatic tissues. Blood homeostasis depends on functional haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Bone marrow is populated by these cells, which express CD34⁺ and CD35⁺ surface antigens and produce and release cytokines involved in the maintenance of haematopoiesis. The aim of the study was determination of the profile of cytokine production by CD34⁺ stem cells of cattle naturally infected with BLV.

The HSCs were generated from the blood and lymphoid organs of cows infected with BLV and healthy control cows with immunomagnetic separation and anti-CD34⁺ monoclonal antibodies. Isolated CD34⁺ cells were cultivated for two weeks with interleukin (IL)-4 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. The levels of IL-6, IL-10, IL-12p40, IL-12p70, interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) were determined in culture fluid by flow cytometry.

The expression of IL-6, IL-12p70 and TNF-α in blood HSCs was higher in BLV⁺ cows than in the control animals. In bone marrow HSCs of infected cows, IL-12, TNF-α and IFN-γ were more concentrated, but in these cows' spleen HSCs only expression of IL-10 was elevated. In HSCs isolated from the lymph nodes of leukaemic cows, only TNF-α secretion was lower than in control cows, the other cytokines being more potently secreted.

Infection with BLV caused statistically significant differences in cytokine expression by HSC CD34⁺ cells.