HTLV-III in the Semen and Blood of a Healthy Homosexual Man

Abstract

Human T-lymphotropic virus type III (HTLV-III) is the probable etiologic agent for the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). HTLV-III was isolated from semen and blood of a healthy homosexual man whose serum contains antibodies to HTLV-III. The finding of virus in semen supports epidemiologic data that suggest that AIDS can be transmitted sexually. In addition, the demonstration of HTLV-III in the blood and semen of a healthy individual establishes an asymptomatic, virus-positive carrier state which may be important in the dissemination of HTLV-III and, consequently, AIDS.

Isolation of infectious human T-cell leukemia/lymphotropic virus type III (HTLV-III) from patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or AIDS-related complex (ARC) and from healthy carriers: a study of risk groups and tissue sources.

“…The ability to isolate virus from several tissues and body fluids from the different patients and donors is summarized in Table 2. The isolation of virus from leukocytes found in the semen of a healthy patient at risk for AIDS (17) and from AIDS patients (18), previously reported by our collaborators, is also included in Table 2.…”

Antisera raised against the second variable region of the external envelope glycoprotein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 cross-neutralize and show an increased neutralization index when they act together with antisera to the V3 neutralization epitope

“…The problem may be further aggravated by uncertainties in the number of infectious doses in the inoculum. The viral content of seminal (Zagury et al, 1984;Ho et al, 1984;Levy et al, 1984;Krieger et al, 1991) or cervical fluids (Wofsy et al, 1986;Vogt et al, 1986) of infected individuals is very low even in terms of tissue culture infectious doses, and although a single TCIDs0 can infect a chimpanzee by the intravenous route, the number of such doses required to infect through mucosal surfaces may be very much higher, if studies with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) are relevant. Thus, there is a 1 : 1500 (Cranage et at., 1992) or a 1 : 10000 (Sutjipto et al, 1990) ratio of infectivity between the intravenous and mucosal routes of SIV infection in rhesus macaques.…”

Lack of Correlation between Seminal and Plasma HIV-1 Viral Loads is Associated with CD4T Cell Depletion in Therapy-naïve HIV-1+ Patients

“…Correlation between blood plasma viral load (PVL) and seminal viral load (SVL) has been a controversial issue (Hamed et al 1993, Liuzzi et al 1996, Gupta et al 1997, Vernazza et al 1997. Ho et al (1984) were the first authors to demonstrate the presence of HIV-1 in semen samples. Although, HIV pandemic is still driven by sexual transmission, little is known about the role of seminal viral load on HIV-1 infection.…”