PROSPECTIVE MULTICENTER STUDY ON ISOLATION OF HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS TYPE-1 FROM HOMOSEXUAL MEN AFTER SEROCONVERSION

A prospective multicenter study was undertaken to isolate human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) from 45 homosexual men for a period of 30 months after seroconversion. Efficiency of HIV-1 isolation from peripheral blood mononuclear cells was relatively stable over time, ranging from 64% at the time of seroconversion to more than 82% after 18 months of seroconversion. However, Kaplan-Meier analysis of HIV-1 culture data indicates that the cumulative proportion of HIV-1 culture positivity at 3, 6, 12, and 18 months after seroconversion was 62, 65, 84, and 92%, respectively. No significant correlation was observed between the presence of HIV-1 p24 antigen in serum, or numbers of CD4+ and CD8+ blood lymphocytes, and HIV-1 isolation within this period of time. These data suggest that HIV-1 viremia in homosexual men gradually increases to almost 100% culture positivity by 18 months after seroconversion.