HIV isolation from pulmonary cells derived from bronchoalveolar lavage.

In a study of 75 alveolar cell co-cultures from 55 HIV-seropositive subjects, p24 antigen production was identified by ELISA in 11 out of 26 (42%) of unseparated cell cultures, 15 out of 39 (38%) purified alveolar macrophage cultures and eight out of 10 purified alveolar lymphocyte samples. Positivity in unseparated cell cultures was associated with an alveolar lymphocytosis greater than 30%. Negative macrophage cultures were significantly more likely in the early stages of HIV infection with none positive when the subject had a peripheral CD4+ cell count greater than 300/microliters. Alveolar macrophage infection thus appears to increase with HIV disease progression.