Pancytopenia in CBA Mice After Rauscher Virus Infection2

Abstract

Hematology of female CBA mice was studied 5–30 days affer Rauscher virus infection. After 10 days pancytopenia was observed; this included reticulocytes, neutrophils, and thrombocytes. Bone marrow cellularity had decreased. Later there was a partial regeneration in some animals, but most remained anemic and thrombopenic. Spleen tumors developed weighing up to 2.5 g. In the bone marrow, a defect in cellular differentiation in the granulopoietic series with a maturation block was noted; erythropoiesis seemed normal. A leukemic blast cell population was not seen. From these results it is concluded that the underlying mechanism in Rauscher disease is a common disorder in hematopoietic cell differentiation, probably caused by the action of the virus on a common precursor cell. This could be a useful model for aplastic anemia, preleukemia, or both.