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Microglia in the giant cell encephalitis of acquired immune deficiency syndrome: proliferation, infection and fusion

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Summary

The autopsied brains of three homosexual men with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), progressive encephalopathy and widespread multinucleated giant cell encephalitis were investigated by lectin and immunohistochemical methods to ascertain the cellular distribution of a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) core protein, p25. Abundant viral antigen was present in all brains, limited to perivascular macrophages, microglial and multinucleated cells, some bearing elongated cytoplasmic processes. The multinucleated cells were consistently labelled by the lectinRicinus communis agglutinin-1, a marker for microglia, which demonstrated processbearing variants of these cells. The prominent staining of microglia for viral antigen and the morphological suggestion that they fuse with other microglia and/or macrophages to form the multinucleated cells characteristic of HIV encephalitis indicate that microglia are probably direct targets of HIV infection and serve to propagate and amplify this retroviral encephalitis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, 10021, New York, NY, USA

    J. Michaels & R. W. Price

  2. Department of Pathology (Neuropathology), Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, 10021, New York, NY, USA

    M. K. Rosenblum

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  1. J. Michaels
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  2. R. W. Price
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  3. M. K. Rosenblum
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Supported by USHPS grant NS-19048 and New York State AIDS Institute grant AR-074

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Michaels, J., Price, R.W. & Rosenblum, M.K. Microglia in the giant cell encephalitis of acquired immune deficiency syndrome: proliferation, infection and fusion. Acta Neuropathol 76, 373–379 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00686974

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00686974

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