Isolation of HTLV III/LAV from drug addicts in Palermo
- Authors: N. ROMANO; P.PORTERA; F. VITALE; D. RUSSO ALESI; TORREGROSSA M
- Publication year: 1987
- Type: Articolo in rivista (Articolo in rivista)
- Key words: isolation, HTLIII/LAV,
- OA Link: http://hdl.handle.net/10447/63062
Abstract
The new human retroviruses HTLV III/LAV, implicated as the causative agent of AIDS, have been isolated from peripheral blood lymphocytes of 5 of 13 drugs abusers with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-related complex (ARC). In one patient the virus was also found in cell-free plasma. No HTLV III/LAV was detected in or isolated from 5 clinically healthy drug abusers. The lymphocytes were cultured with interleukin 2 and expressed either a transcriptase reverse activity or HTLV III/LAV antigens within 2-3 weeks of cultivation. The viruses were also transmitted into normal lymphocytes from cord blood of human newborns. At the present state of development, virological investigation, other than seroepidemiological survey, seems a suitable marker for human retroviruses tracing in epidemiological studies