Transmission of Simian Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (SAIDS) with Blood or Filtered Plasma

• DOI: 10.1126/science.6318315
• Publication Date: 2006-10-05T19:41:59Z
• Authors: Maneth Gravell; William T. London; Sidney A. Houff; David L. Madden; Marinos C. Dalakas; John L. Sever; Kent G. Osborn; Donald H. Maul; Roy V. Henrickson; Preston A. Marx; Nicholas W. Lerche; Srinivasa Prahalada; Murray B. Gardner
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; 0303 health sciences; Cytomegalovirus; Immunoglobulins; Lymphocyte Activation; Macaca mulatta; 3. Good health; Lymphatic System; Plasma; 03 medical and health sciences; Blood; Retroviridae; Viruses; Animals; Filtration

Simian acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (SAIDS), a disease clinically and pathologically similar to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in humans, was transmitted from diseased rhesus monkeys ( Macaca mulatta ) to normal monkeys by inoculation with heparinized whole blood or plasma that had been passed through filters of 0.45 micrometer pore size. This suggests that the causative agent is small and most probably a virus. No viruses, however, were isolated by standard cell culture techniques from the blood or filtered plasma which caused SAIDS. Both cellular and humoral immunity were markedly depressed in animals with advanced SAIDS.