Pseudorabies Virus HLJ Strain Suppresses Peripheral Blood T and B Lymphocytes in Mice

Background: Pseudorabies virus (PRV), responsible for pseudorabies, is one of the most important pathogen in swine industry. PRV infection suppresses interferon-β (IFN-β) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) expression, which consequently results in an immune escape in the host. Methods: In this study, distribution of peripheral blood T and B cell sub-populations was analyzed by flow cytometry after infecting mice with 1×105 TCID50 PRV. Result: We found that the levels of CD3+ T, CD4+ T and CD8+ T lymphocyte in infection group were significantly decreased at 24 hpi (p less than 0.01) and remained at a low level until 72 hpi compared to the control group. Interestingly, the levels of CD19+ T lymphocyte were significantly lower after 24 hpi (p less than 0.01) and lasted until 48 hpi, then increased sharply and then dropped at 96 hpi. Collectively, these results indicated that PRV infection could play a negative role in adaptive immunity in mice by decreasing the levels of B and T lymphocytes.