Suppression of diabetes by serum thymic factor

通过注射抗去唾液酸GM1，检测了小鼠对伪狂犬病病毒（PRV）感染的易感性，小鼠的自然杀伤（NK）细胞活性持续耗竭。研究了血清胸腺因子（FTS）对PRV易感性的影响。在NK细胞活性耗尽的小鼠中，PRV感染小鼠的死亡率明显较高，而FTS预处理小鼠的死亡率明显低于对照组。在PRV感染前用抗去唾液酸GM1抗血清处理的小鼠中证明了对PRV的敏感性降低。在感染后第1天接种抗血清的小鼠中未观察到这种降低的易感性。为了分析FS诱导的对PRV感染的抗性，研究了NK细胞活性、巨噬细胞活性和干扰素（IFN）产生。干扰素的产生和NK细胞的活性增强，表明干扰素可能发挥重要作用，在这种FS诱导的抵抗PRV感染。

Susceptibility to pseudorabies virus (PRV) infection in mice, which were continuously depleted of natural killer (NK) cell activity by injection of anti-asialo GM1, was examined. Effects of serum thymic factor (FTS) on susceptibility of mice to PRV were also investigated. In mice with depleted NK cell activity, the mortality of PRV-infected mice was markedly high, whereas that of FTS-pretreated mice was significantly lower than the controls. Reduced susceptibility to PRV was demonstrated in mice treated with anti-asialo GM1 antisera before the PRV infection. Such a reduced susceptibility was not observed in mice inoculated with the antisera on day 1 post-infection. To analyze the FTS-induced resistance to PRV infection, NK cell activity, macrophage activity, and interferon (IFN) productions were studied. Interferon production and NK cell activity were enhanced in the FTS-pretreated mice, suggesting that interferon may play an important role in this FTS-induced resistance to PRV infection.