ABSTRACT
Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 36 HIV-1 antibody positive Filipino female commercial sex workers (CSWs) were co-cultivated at a 1:1 ratio with phytohemagglutinin-P activated PBMC from healthy, HIV-1 antibody negative donors. After 3-18 (mean 7.2) days of incubation at 37 degrees C in 5% CO2, 29 cultures showed evidence of replication of HIV-1: increasing concentrations of p24 antigen in the growth medium and the appearance of multinucleated giant cells. Although the length of incubation required for the appearance of cytopathogenic effect for each particular isolate was essentially the same when either 6 microwell plates were seeded with 3.0 x 10(6) cells/well or 24 well plates were seeded with 1.5 x 10(6) cells/well, the 24 well format was more sensitive. The ability to isolate HIV-1 from PBMC did not appear to be associated with the progression of disease or the presence or absence of any specific clinical findings. However, if the PBMC were from individuals with a concomitant p24 antigenemia, the incubation time required for isolation was significantly shorter (mean 3.8 days). The absolute CD4+ lymphocyte count was also slightly reduced in the culture positive, p24 antigenemic patients (range 302-813 cells/mm3, mean 502 cells/mm3) compared to the culture positive, p24 serum negative cases (range 311-1,511 cells/mm3, mean 830 cells/mm3). The p24 serum negative cases with CD4+ counts of < 500 cells/mm3 had positive PBMC cultures by 6 days of incubation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)