Protection against the Lethal Effect of Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus in Mice by Neonatal Thymectomy

Abstract

EVIDENCE has recently been summarized¹ for a hypothesis stating that the lethal effect of lymphocytic chorio-meningitis virus infection in mice depends on a severe immunological conflict between the rapidly multiplying viral parasite and the immune response of the host to this foreign antigen. In this light, the lymphocytic response to this virus is seen as a part of the immune response acting to eliminate the virus-infected tissue by a mechanism comparable with the homograft response. This hypothesis integrates the protective effect of χ-irradiation, amethopterin treatment, the ability of new-born and con-genitally infected animals to tolerate the virus by immunological tolerance or paralysis, and also the extreme hyper-sensitivity to endotoxin developed during the incubation period of acute infection by this virus.