Role of thymus-dependent lymphocytes and antibodies in feline infectious peritonitis after oral infection.

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Abstract
Seronegative kittens were inoculated intragastrically with feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) virus after thymectomy and/or treating with immune serum or immune ascites against FIP virus. At necropsy performed 10 days postinoculation, thymectomized kittens showed more severe intestinal lesions than did nontreated controls. The kittens that had received high-titered serum or ascites with or without thymectomy were found to have fibrinous peritonitis. Peritonitis was more severe in the thymectomized and antibody-treated kittens. The resutls suggest that the virus caused damage to the thymus-dependent lymphocytes and that the humoral antibody played some role in inducing serositis as well as parenchymatous organ lesions.