Detection of lymphocytes expressing human T-lymphotropic virus type III in lymph nodes and peripheral blood from infected individuals by in situ hybridization.

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Abstract
By using in situ hybridization methodology, we have directly examined primary lymph node and peripheral blood from patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and AIDS-related complex for the presence of human T-lymphotropic virus type III (HTLV-III) viral RNA. Mononuclear cell preparations were hybridized with a 35S-labeled HTLV-III-specific RNA probe and exposed to autoradiographic emulsion for 2 days. HTLV-III-infected cells expressing viral RNA were detected in approximately 86% (6/7) of lymph node and 50% (7/14) of peripheral blood samples studied. However, in all patient samples examined, labeled cells were observed at very low frequency (less than 0.01% of total mononuclear cells). The HTLV-III-infected cells exhibited morphological characteristics consistent with that of lymphocytes and expressed viral RNA at relatively low abundance (20-300 copies per cell). These results demonstrate that HTLV-III expression in lymph node and peripheral blood is very low in vivo. Furthermore, the lymph node hyperplasia observed in HTLV-III-associated lymphadenopathy is not directly due to proliferation of HTLV-III-infected lymphocytes.