ABSTRACT
Retrovirus-induced tumorigenesis is a complicated multistep process that transforms normal cells into tumor cells that exhibit uncontrolled proliferation and that have the unique ability to escape immune destruction. This chapter focuses on the effects of vitamin E administered either in vivo or in vitro to modulate avian retrovirus induced immune dysfunctions in a chicken animal model. Studies conducted in vivo demonstrated potent ameliorating effects by synthetic vitamin E on retrovirus-induced immune dysfunctions. Vitamin E is a generic term for fat-soluble compounds that exhibit the biological activity of natural vitamin E, RRR-α-tocopherol. The in vivo studies involved challenge with tumor cells transformed by the replication defective avian retrovirus, reticuloendotheliosis virus, reticuloendotheliosis virus-transforming (REV-T) along with its naturally occurring replication competent helper virus, reticuloendotheliosis associated virus (REV-A). The possibility that vitamin E may play a role in modulating the arachidonic acid cascade has been proposed.
