Mg. Pittis et al., IMPAIRED PHAGOLYSOSOMAL FUSION OF PERIPHERAL-BLOOD MONOCYTES FROM HIV-INFECTED SUBJECTS, Scandinavian journal of immunology, 38(5), 1993, pp. 423-427
We evaluated phagolysosomal fusion in peripheral blood monocytes from
20 HIV-infected individuals and 40 normal controls, using a fluorescen
ce assay with acridine orange as marker. The percentages of phagolysos
omal fusion of monocytes from HIV-infected subjects, after 30 and 60 m
in of yeast ingestion, (mean +/- standard deviation) 57.2 +/- 17 and 6
3.2 +/- 18.6, respectively, when compared to normal controls (72.4 +/-
7.8 and 77 +/- 8.1), did not differ significantly. However, there was
a direct linear association between the percentages of phagolysosomal
fusion and CD4+ lymphocytes (P < 0.001) or CD4/CD8 T-cell ratio (P <
0.01). These results suggest that phagolysosomal dysfunction becomes e
vident at late stages of HIV infection and progresses as CD4+ T-lympho
cyte count and CD4/CD8 T-cell ratio decrease. On the other hand, recom
binant gp120 inhibited significantly normal phagolysosomal fusion at c
oncentrations ranging between 1 and 1000 ng/ml. Taking together the re
sults obtained, we can conclude that gp120 could be responsible for mo
nocyte phagolysosomal dysfunction observed in HIV infected patients.