Congenital hypopritichos is a disease of the immune system in cats - VCE - SSCE Biology - Question 8 - 2010 - Paper 1

Cats with congenital hypopritichos fail to develop a functional thymus, which is critical for the maturation of T cells, particularly helper T cells. These helper cells (also known as CD4+ T cells) play a vital role in orchestrating the immune response, including activating other immune cells and stimulating B cells to produce antibodies. Without a functional thymus, these cats would likely have a deficiency of helper T cells, leading to impaired cellular immunity. Therefore, the most reasonable assumption is that they have a deficiency of helper cells for cellular immunity.