3'-Azido-3'-deoxythymidine prevents induction of murine acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in C57BL/10 mice infected with LP-BM5 murine leukemia viruses, a possible animal model for antiretroviral drug screening.

Adult C57BL/10 mice (H-2b Fv-1b) inoculated with LP-BM5 murine leukemia virus develop a disease which has many features in common with human acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), in particular abnormal lymphoproliferation and severe immunodeficiency. In the present study, we examined the possibility that this murine AIDS (MAIDS) model would be useful for evaluating antiretrovirus drugs in vivo through the use of a well-defined antiretrovirus drug, the reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitor (H. Mitsuya, K.J. Weinhold, P.A. Furman, M.H. St. Claire, S. Nusinoff-Lehrman, R.C. Gallo, D. Bolognesi, D.W. Barry, and S. Broder, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 82:7096-7100, 1985) 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (AZT). We evaluated the effect of AZT treatment on de novo virus infection as well as on the induction of immunodeficiency by various parameters, including RT activity in serum, splenomegaly, proliferative responses against alloantigens and mitogens, soluble-antigen-presenting cell activity, and immunoglobulin G levels in serum. Our results demonstrated that AZT treatment of C57BL/10 mice infected with LP-BM5 murine leukemia virus efficiently prevented the induction of immunodeficiency if started at the time of virus inoculation. Starting AZT treatment 1 week later provided only a partial protective effect. Starting AZT treatment 2 weeks later was associated with suppression of RT activity in serum but no prevention of immunosuppression. This MAIDS model may allow rapid and cost-effective screening for antiretrovirus drugs targeted against retroviral functions shared between human AIDS and MAIDS, such as those encoded by gag, pol, or env.