Isolation of HTLV-III from Cerebrospinal Fluid and Neural Tissues of Patients with Neurologic Syndromes Related to the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Abstract

We conducted virus-isolation studies on 56 specimens from the nervous system of 45 patients in order to determine whether human T-cell lymphotropic virus Type III (HTLV-III) is directly involved in the pathogenesis of the neurologic disorders frequently encountered in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and the AIDS-related complex. We recovered HTLV-III from at least one specimen from 24 of 33 patients with AIDS-related neurologic syndromes. In one patient, HTLV-III was isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid during acute aseptic meningitis associated with HTLV-III seroconversion. HTLV-III was also isolated from cerebrospinal fluid from six of seven patients with AIDS or its related complex and unexplained chronic meningitis. In addition, of 16 patients with AIDS-related dementia, 10 had positive cultures for HTLV-III in cerebrospinal fluid, brain tissue, or both. Furthermore, we cultured HTLV-III from the spinal cord of a patient with myelopathy and from the sural nerve of a patient with peripheral neuropathy. These findings suggest that HTLV-III is neurotropic, is capable of causing acute meningitis, is responsible for AIDS-related chronic meningitis and dementia, and may be the cause of the spinal-cord degeneration and peripheral neuropathy in AIDS and AIDS-related complex.

Asymptomatic Infection of the Central Nervous System by the Macaque Immunosuppressive Type D Retrovirus, SRV-1

“…Central nervous system (CNS) infection by retroviruses has become a topic of great concern due to the recognition of severe neurological sequelae from infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (Carne et al, 1985;Ho et al, 1985 ;Levy et al, 1985;Petito et al, 1985;Price et al, 1988;Resnick et al, 1985;Shaw et al, 1985;Vazeux et al, 1988). Encephalopathy and dementia occur frequently in association with HIV infection of the brain (Ho et al, 1987;Price et al, 1988) in children and in adults but many questions remain unanswered about the pathogenesis of this CNS infection in humans.…”

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 neutralization by plasma from B or F genotype infected individuals

“…The importance of the anti-HIV-1 humoral immune response has been a highly controversial subject since antibodies capable of neutralizing the virus were first described (Ho et al 1985. Robert-Guroff et al 1985, Weiss et al 1985.…”

Human Immunodeficiency Virus and the Central Nervous System

“…Today we know that the CNS and the immune system are major targets of HIV infection [24,26]. HIV has been isolated from CNS tissue and intrathecal synthesis of anti-HIV antibodies have been found in patients with AIDS and neurological illness [27,28]. In the adult brain, only macrophages and microglia are productively infected, and HIV does not effectively enter or replicate in neurons, suggesting that dementia occurs by indirect mechanisms.…”

“…During this period, the viral load in the peripheral blood is as high as it is in the terminal phase of the illness [28,31]. Some researchers have identified HIV proteins [27] or intrathecal synthesis of anti-HIV antibodies, in the initial phase of infection [28].…”