runt disease
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runt disease
[runt]a clinical syndrome in experimental animals that is a result of severe immunodeficiency produced by experimental manipulation; it was first seen in neonatal mice subjected to experimental thymectomy.
runt dis·ease
a graft versus host reaction in mice first observed following intravenous injection of allogeneic spleen cells into newborn animals.
Synonym(s): wasting disease
runt
small, stunted, weak; an undersized offspring. See also intrauterine growth retardation.
runt disease
disease produced by immunologically competent cells in a foreign host that is unable to reject them, resulting in gross retardation of host development and in death. Classically observed in neonatal mice given bone marrow or leukocytes from an adult, genetically different strain of mice; a form of graft versus host disease.