THE EFFECT OF AZT ON DENDRITIC CELL NUMBER AND PROVIRUS LOAD IN THE PERIPHERAL-BLOOD OF AIDS PATIENTS - A PRELIMINARY-STUDY

In this pilot study, the numbers of dendritic cells (DC) in peripheral blood of AIDS patients and the level of infection with HIV1 were dete rmined before and after AZT treatment. Mononuclear cells were cultured overnight and DC were identified by their lack of labelling with anti bodies specific for T, B and natural killer (NK) cells and monocytes a nd by their high level of staining with antibodies for MHC class II mo lecules. Although the numbers of DC identified by this method were low er than those identified morphologically in earlier studies (Macatonia et al., 1990), the numbers in three untreated AIDS patients were belo w the range seen in normals. There was also a marked rise in DC number in patients given AZT therapy. In two patients, there was a significa nt provirus load in the DCs which was decreased two to three weeks aft er the commencement of AZT therapy. The studies suggest that DC number s and their infection levels may be markers of disease in HIV infectio n.