Production of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-1 (IL-1) in patients with AIDS. Enhanced level of TNF-alpha is related to a higher cytotoxic activity.

We measured simultaneously circulating and cell-generated TNF-alpha and IL-1 after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) by radioimmunoassay (RIA) in HIV-infected individuals at different stages of infection, classified according to CDC classification. TNF-alpha production, both in vitro and endogenous in sera, remained at the normal level in group II patients but was significantly increased in most patients in group IV (P less than 0.05). Most patients of group II and IV displayed normal level of IL-1 in their sera, whereas the level of this monokine generated in vitro was significantly reduced in both groups (P less than 0.05). The cytotoxic effect of factor(s) secreted by PBMC from HIV-infected individuals was evaluated towards a fibroblast cell line L929. The higher titre of cytotoxicity was directly related to a higher production of TNF-alpha by the cells from group IV patients and the effect could be removed by pre-absorption with anti-TNF-alpha monoclonal antibody.