Alveolar macrophages from subjects infected with HIV-1 express macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha (MIP-1 alpha): contribution to the CD8+ alveolitis.

We examined the synthesis and release of MIP-1 alpha in alveolar macrophages obtained from normal subjects or subjects infected with HIV-1, at different stages of the disease. HIV-1-infected subjects in groups II, III and IV all had significant interstitial pneumonitis, featuring a significant infiltration of CD8+ lymphocytes in the bronchoalveolar lavage. Alveolar macrophages from HIV-1-infected subjects were shown to express significant levels of MIP-1 alpha via immunohistochemistry, both spontaneously and in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), whereas cells from normal subjects expressed very low levels of the cytokine. Supernatants of alveolar macrophages from HIV-1-infected subjects exerted strong chemotactic activity for purified activated blood CD8+ T lymphocytes, which was strongly inhibited by neutralizing MIP-1 alpha. Studies of patients with HIV-1 infection at different stages of the disease showed that MIP-1 alpha secretion increased as viral infection developed. There was a significant positive correlation between MIP-1 alpha secretion and the CD8+ alveolitis in HIV-1-infected subjects. Infection of alveolar macrophages in vitro with three distinct strains of HIV-1 which replicated profusely in macrophages did not induce the expression of MIP-1 alpha. Collectively, these data suggest that HIV-1 infection in vivo induces MIP-1 alpha expression and release in alveolar macrophages, and this appears to contribute significantly to the alveolar lymphocytosis seen in HIV-1-infected subjects.