Quantitative culture of HIV-1 from bronchoalveolar lavage cells.
Determination of the infectious virus burden at the organ level is critical for understanding the pathophysiology of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection. To evaluate the burden of HIV-1 in the lung, quantitative cultures were performed on bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells from 11 HIV-1 seropositive subjects without respiratory infections and compared with peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) obtained from the same subjects. Fifty percent (50%) of subjects had positive BAL cell cultures while 82% had positive PBMC cultures. There was much less virus cultured from BAL cells than from PBMCs, whether using phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-stimulated peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL) targets (p < 0.05) or adherent monocyte targets (p < 0.02). There was no significant difference between the HIV-1 titers obtained for BAL cells whether using PHA-stimulated PBL or adherent monocyte targets (p = 0.13). These studies demonstrate that BAL cell cultures for HIV-1 in subjects without respiratory infections are less frequently positive than PBMC cultures, that less virus can be recovered from BAL cells than from PBMC, and that HIV-1 isolates from BAL cells replicate in both PHA-stimulated PBL targets and adherent monocyte targets. Quantitative assessment of virus burden in the lung is important for future studies of HIV-1 pathogenesis and for evaluating potential antiretroviral therapies aimed at altering the natural history of organ dysfunction associated with retroviral replication.
Pinkston
P
P
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, New England Deaconess Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
Pelletier
N
N
Arena
C
C
Schock
J
J
Garland
R
R
Rose
R M
RM
D000328:Adult; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000166:cytology / Q000821:virology*; D002469:Cell Separation; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000821:virology; D008168:Lung / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D014776:Virus Cultivation; D014779:Virus Replication