Differential susceptibility of human lymphocyte cultures to infection by HIV.

We have assessed the ability of HIV to infect cultures of peripheral blood lymphocytes derived from different healthy donors, varying in age between 20 and 76. The results indicate that cells from all of these people can be infected, although the percentage of infected cells varied from case to case. A similar variation was observed when attempts were made to infect cells from the same donor on more than one occasion. In most cases, infection by HIV led to persistence of an activated cell state, as indicated by the presence of Tac Ag or IL-2 receptor, at the cell surface. Co-incubation of HIV-infected lymphocytes with uninfected cells did not affect the ability of the latter either to respond to phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) or to express Tac Ag.