UNIFORM DETECTION OF HIV-1 IN ALVEOLAR MACROPHAGES OF PEDIATRIC BUT NOT ADULT AIDS PATIENTS

Manifestations of pulmonary disease in pediatric AIDS patients differ from those in adults. To evaluate whether differences in the frequency of alveolar macrophage (AM) infection with human immunodeficiency vir us type 1 (HIV-1) could account for these clinical distinctions, we un dertook a comparative analysis of HIV-1 DNA in AMs from pediatric and adult AIDS patients by enzymatic amplification. A higher frequency of viral DNA detection in pediatric cases (100%) compared with adults (67 %) was observed. The sensitivity of detection was 1 viral DNA copy per 4000 AMs; matched peripheral blood mononuclear cells from six of seve n pediatric and eight of nine adult patients tested HIV-1 DNA positive . Adult but not pediatric patients exhibited a marked alveolar lymphoc ytosis, 32% mean lymphocyte count compared with 7.0%, respectively. Th ese results suggest that the burden of HIV-1 in the lungs of pediatric AIDS patients is greater than that in adults.