Koalas vaccinated against Koala retrovirus respond by producing increased levels of interferon-gamma

Koala retrovirus (KoRV) is believed to be in an active state of endogenization into the koala genome. KoRV is present as both an endogenous and exogenous infection in all koalas in northern Australia. KoRV has been linked to koala pathologies including neoplasia and increased susceptibility to Chlamydia. A KoRV vaccine recently trialled in 10 northern koalas improved antibody response and reduced viral load. This communication reports the expression of key immune genes underlining the innate and adaptive immune response to vaccination in these northern koalas. The results showed that prior to vaccination, IL-8 was expressed at the highest levels, with at least 200-fold greater expression compared to other cytokines, while CD8 mRNA expression was significantly higher than CD4 mRNA expression level. Interferon-gamma was up-regulated at both 4- and 8-weeks post-vaccination while IL-8 was down-regulated at 8-weeks post-vaccination.