# EFFECT OF AGE ON RETROVIRUS DISEASE & IMMUNOSUPPRESSION

> **NIH NIH R01** · ALLEGHENY UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES · 1993 · $203,851

## Abstract

The Centers for Disease Control has recently observed that old
individuals who receive transfusions of HIV infected blood
develop symptoms of AIDS more quickly than young individuals who
receive comparable transfusions.  The most apparent explanation
for this increased susceptibility to development of AIDS is that
introduction of HIV into an environment that already demonstrates
a certain level of immunosuppression results in more rapid
manifestations of HIV-induced immunosuppression and, thus
development of AIDS.  However, other explanations are also
possible.

Although the ideal situation would be to examine the differences
in susceptibility in humans, these studies are difficult to
perform due to the small number of individuals >60 who have been
infected with HIV and the great differences in environmental
exposure of old individuals and young individuals.  Due to these
difficulties in experimental design, studies to investigate both
the degree and mechanism of altered susceptibility of old
individuals to HIV must be examined in an animal model.  The
retrovirus, Friend leukemia virus (FLV) in mice was chosen for
these studies due to the availability of information and reagents
regarding the immune system, changes in the immune system with
age and FLV.  Further, HIV has a genome and life cycle and causes
severe immunosuppression similar to FLV.  In the proposed studies
we will determine:

1.  Differences in susceptibility of old and young mice to
    a. FLV-induced disease
    b. FLV-induced immunosuppression
2.  The mechanism of differences in susceptibility of old and
young mice to FLV-induced disease.
3.  The mechanism(s) of FLV-induced immunosuppression in both
young and old mice.

These studies will provide information regarding not only
differences in susceptibility of old and young individuals to
retrovirus induced disease and immunosuppression, but also the
mechanism(s) of retrovirus-induced immunosuppression in all ages
of individuals.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3120394
- **Project number:** 5R01AG008659-04
- **Recipient organization:** ALLEGHENY UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Donna Marie Murasko
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1993
- **Award amount:** $203,851
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1989-12-01 → 1994-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3120394

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3120394, EFFECT OF AGE ON RETROVIRUS DISEASE & IMMUNOSUPPRESSION (5R01AG008659-04). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3120394. Licensed CC0.

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