IMMUNE FUNCTIONS IN HOMOSEXUAL MEN WITH ANTIBODIES TO HTLV-III IN FINLAND

Abstract

The occurrence of human T cell leukemia-lymphoma virus type III (HTLV-III) antibodies in a voluntary group of 175 homosexual men in a low risk acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) area was studied, and the findings were correlated to clinical, virological, immunological and lifestyle parameters. Fifteen of 175 men had HTLV-III antibodies; 2 of these had AIDS, 5 had lymphadenopathy syndrome (LAS) and 2 had enlarged lymph nodes. In the HTLV-III antibody negative group, nosigns of AIDS or pre-AIDS were seen during a 10 mo. follow-up. In HTLV-III antibody positive individuals, low helper T cell/suppressor T cell (TH/TS) ratio was mainly due to decreased number of TH cells. Most HTLV-III antibody positive cases had low responses to a specific antigen, purified protein derivative, while responses to the mitogens phytohemagglutinin and pokeweed mitogen were only slightly affected. In HTLV-III antibody negative cases, 13% had a low TH/TS ratio, mostly due to elevation of TS cells. In this group, mitogen and antigen resposnes were normal or only slightly affected. The results reinfoce the causal relationship between HTLV-III and AIDS and suggest that the cells primarily affected by the virus infection are TH cells, responsible for antigeni specific responses. Longitudinal studies are required to find out, what is the relationship of immune response to the development of clinical AIDS in HTLV-III infected individuals.