Chronic acquired immunodeficiency syndrome‐associated arthritis: a synovial ultrastructural study

Abstract

We describe a patient who developed acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-related complex, complicated by chronic, symmetric polyarthritis. Synovial biopsy showed large areas of plasma cell infiltration subjacent to the synovial lining. Ultrastructural study demonstrated tubuloreticular structures within endothelial cells, crystal-like inclusions in plasma cells, and virus-like particles located around synoviocyte fragments. Although immunologic and morphologic studies did not permit classification of these virus-like structures, the role of these possible virions in the pathogenesis of the observed synovitis remains to be determined. Surprisingly, the patient's chronic arthritis resolved with anti-retroviral treatment (azidothymidine; AZT).The rheumatic manifestations generally associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection include Reiter's syndrome (1) and psoriatic arthritis (2). Some patients exhibit a different clinical

Detection of human T cell lymphotropic virus type I proviral DNA and its gene expression in synovial cells in chronic inflammatory arthropathy.

“…An arthritis associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has been recognized as a new clinical entity (39), whereas Sokoloff reported this arthritis to be a nonspecific opportunistic infectious arthritis (40). Nevertheless, there are interesting implications for our study that Bentin et al (41) reported that HIV-like particles could be found electron-microscopically among synoviocyte cell fragments from HIV-infected patients.…”

Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors Are Able and Protease Inhibitors Unable to Induce the Tolerogenic Molecule HLA-G1 on Monocytes From HIV-1 Infected Patients

“…The NRTI-HLA-G induction may explain why many cases of autoimmune diseases have a better evolution after the start of antiretroviral treatment with HAART when they become HIV-1 positive [9,10]. DNA methylations and demethylations induced by zidovudine AZT and 5-aza-2=-deoxicytidine (AZA), which disinhibit the HLA-G1 promoter, may be related to the molecular procedures of HLA-G induction [11,12].…”

Small Ruminant Lentiviruses and Human Immunodeficiency Virus: Cousins that Take a Long View

“…The disease mainly manifests as a non-erosive oligoarthritis often affecting the lower extremities, and can be seen in children as well as adults [305]. Histopathological analysis has been performed in only a few studies, and these show a diffuse infiltration of the synovium by mainly mononuclear cells [306,307]. Both CD4+ and CD8+ T cell subsets are observed, with the CD8+ T cell subset predominating.…”