THE BACTERICIDAL CAPACITY OF PERIPHERAL-BLOOD MONOCYTES FROM HIV POSITIVE PATIENTS MAY COLLAPSE VERY SOON AFTER THE INFECTION

The activity of peripheral blood monocytes from HIV positive patients was measured by the intensity of the chemoluminescence those cells emit when they ingest a foreign particle. In most patients (84%) that value was impaired. Such an alteration may occur very early in the course of the disease. The anti-p24 antibody titer was correlated with monocyte phagocytic potential as measured by the chemoluminescent value thus indicating the need for adequate monocyte activity in order to obtain antibody formation. The severity of opportunistic infections that HIV positive subjects may develop is a clear indication that their immune systems are abnormal. The most frequently affected cells are those which bear the viral receptor, the CD4 antigen. Those cells are mainly the helper T cells and monocytes [1]. The monocytes are the immune system phagocytic cells which actively control infections, in part by the release oxidative radicals. Those radicals can easily be measured by the chemoluminescence (CL) the cells emit when they ingest a foreign particle [1, 2]. This study examines the CL emitted by peripheral blood monocytes from HIV-positive and control subjects while they phagocytose opsonized zymosan in vitro and correlates these values with other laboratory parameters.