Peripheral B cells with intracytoplasmic mu chains in HIV infection.

Besides the major alteration of T lymphocytes, B-cell anomalies have been reported in HIV infection, related to late stages of B-cell maturation, and considered to result from the dysregulation of T/B interactions. Because T cells are also involved in the control of lymphopoiesis and/or because of specific alterations of the B lineage, anomalies of B-cell maturation could occur in HIV-infected patients. We investigated the presence of immature pre-B lymphocytes, characterized by cytoplasmic mu chains, in 35 peripheral blood samples from healthy controls, 82 from HIV-positive/non-AIDS patients, and 45 from AIDS patients. Significant numbers of such cells were observed in 48% of HIV-seropositive patients and in 40% of the patients with AIDS disease. The presence of pre-B cells correlated with higher numbers of CD8+ and/or CD57+ cells and of peripheral lymphocytes. These data suggest that B-cell dysregulation in HIV infection may lead to the abnormal release of immature B cells in the peripheral blood. This observation may be interpreted as a sign of bone marrow activity.