Recovery from retrovirus-induced immune suppression in BDP/J mice: dominance of the "regressor' phenotype.

Murine acquired immune deficiency syndrome (MAIDS) is an immunosuppressive disease of mice induced by infection with the LP-BM5 murine leukemia virus (MuLV) retrovirus isolate. Certain inbred strains of mice are resistant to disease, but F1 crosses between sensitive and resistant strains are predominantly sensitive to MAIDS. One inbred strain, BDP, demonstrates a novel disease phenotype, recovery of immune function after a period of profound immune suppression. This trait is genetically dominant in crosses between BDP and either sensitive or resistant strains. The 'regressor' phenotype reveals the existence of a mechanism for recovery from immunosuppressive retrovirus infections, which may be of import in developing therapies for AIDS patients.