Stages of restricted HIV-1 infection in astrocyte cultures derived from human fetal brain tissue.

The predominant cell types infected by HIV-1 in AIDS associated encephalopathy are cells of the macrophage/microglial lineage. There has been consistent evidence, however, that astrocytes also become infected although not at the same frequency or level of multiplication as microglial cells. HIV-1 antigens and/or nucleic acid have been identified in astrocytes in brain autopsy tissue from both adult and pediatric AIDS cases. In cell cultures, HIV-1 infection of astrocytes results in an initial productive but non-cytopathogenic infection that diminishes to a viral persistence or latent state. Understanding the nature of HIV-1 infection of astrocytes, which represents the largest population of cells in the brain, will contribute to the understanding of AIDS encephalopathy and the dementia that occurs in nearly one-quarter of all AIDS patients.