An Experimental Model of Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia in Mice

Abstract

Autoimmune hemolytic anemia was induced in C57Bl/6J mice by multiple injections of syngeneic erythrocytes coated with Influenza A (PR8) virus. Coombs positive erythrocytes and erythrocyte-binding immunoglobulins were demonstrated by the method of antiglobulin agglutination. Viable virus was not required to induce the response, although it was more effective than inactivated preparations, and presensitization to the virus was not a prerequisite. The induced disease was mildly hemolytic. Reactive anti-erythrocyte immunoglobulins were of the IgG class, and unlike those in sera of New Zealand strain mice, they were both strain- and species-specific. These results support the concept of a viral etiology for acquired hemolytic anemia. However, the response seen in the experimental model differs from the natural response in New Zealand mice in the persistence of the anemia and the specificity of the autoantibodies. The Gross leukemia virus, being indigenous to the New Zealand strain, may persist and induce inheritable changes in host cells, thus accounting for the differences observed.