Immunosuppression in toxoplasmosis: further studies on mice infected with louping-ill virus

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Abstract
Mice were infected with an avirulent cyst-producing strain of Toxoplasma gondii and given injections of louping-ill virus 7 days later; control mice were given virus but not Toxoplasma. Test and control mice were then killed, in groups, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 days later. In the dually infected mice viremia was later, greater and more prolonged; titers of virus recovered from brain and spleen were greater; production of hemagglutinating antibody to louping-ill virus was later and less; and inflammation in the brain was more severe than in mice given virus alone. Apparently T. gondii suppressed the immunity of mice, making them more susceptible to the virus. A significant proportion of the increased number of inflammatory cells observed in the brain could have been Toxoplasma-specific and not virus-specific and hence contributed to the increased susceptibility of the dually infected mice to louping-ill virus.