Human Immunodeficiency Virus DNA is Present in a High Percentage of CD4+ Lymphocytes of Seropositive Individuals

Abstract

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-I) infects predominantly CD4⁺ cells in human peripheral blood and infection is associated with CD4⁺ lymphocyte dysfunction in patients with AIDS. To determine the frequency of HIV-I infection in CD4⁺ lymphocytes in vivo, peripheral blood CD4⁺ lymphocytes were isolated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting from HIV-I-infected persons with clinical disease ranging from asymptomatic to AIDS. Using standard and booster polymerase chain reaction analyses, study patients with AIDS and AIDS-related complex (ARC) were found to harbor the HIV-I genome in at least 10% of CD4⁺ lymphocytes, and -to-fold less infected cells were found in those with asymptomatic infection. In addition, the peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with ARC frequently contained a higher absolute number of HIV-l-infected CD4⁺ lymphocytes than those with AIDS or asymptomatic infection. It is likely that this high level of infection of CD4⁺ lymphocytes is the primary cause for the progressive immunologic deficiencyobserved in patients infected with HIV-1.