Murine AIDS, a key to understanding retrovirus-induced immunodeficiency

A murine AIDS model, induced by LP-BM5 murine leukemia virus (MuLV), has helped to investigate pathogenesis of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), cofactor involvement, and new treatment tests. LP-BM5 MuLV-infected mice characteristically develop hypergammaglobulinemia, splenomegaly, lymphadenopathy, T-cell functional deficiency, B-cell dysfunction, and, in the later stages, neurological signs including paralysis as well as susceptibility to opportunistic infections. The similarities between murine AIDS and human AIDS are striking, with similar changes in immune functions, T-cell differentiation, cytokine production, disease resistance, and oxidative stress. The well-characterized murine immunological system, availability of inbred strains, economy of using mice versus primate model, and similarities in immunodeficiency caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) encouraged rapid development of the LP-BM5 murine AIDS model in the past decade.