Necrotizing Vasculitis and HIV Replication in Peripheral Nerves

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Abstract
To the Editor: Necrotizing vasculitis of the nerves may occur in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV),1 , 2 but its pathogenesis remains obscure.3 Despite the isolation of HIV from peripheral-nerve homogenates4 5 6 and the rare finding of HIV-like particles in peripheral axons7 in some patients infected with HIV who have peripheral neuropathy, neither immunohistochemical studies for identification of HIV antigens6 nor previous attempts to demonstrate viral genomes in situ5 in this tissue have been successful. We have observed two patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and necrotizing vasculitis of the nervous system in whom HIV replication in infiltrating mononuclear cells . . .