Leukocytes as Carriers in the Transmission of Bovine Leukemia: Invasion of the Digestive Tract of the Newborn by Ingested, Cultured, Leukocytes

Abstract

SUMMARY Bovine leukocytes were grown in vitro in fixed culture and labeled with trypan blue. When inoculated orally into colostrum-deprived, hysterectomy-derived rabbits, the labeled leukocytes appeared to penetrate into the mucosa of the upper digestive tract. Cells inhaled during oral inoculation appeared to be actively invading the alveolar tissue in the lungs. Failure of the cells to retain the dye in the digestive tract epithelium limited the duration of the experiment.