Recovery of human immunodeficiency virus from asymptomatic prostitutes from Tamil Nadu

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 13 asymptomatic healthy human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) antibody positive prostitutes from Tamil Nadu, southern India, were cocultivated with phytohemagglutinin stimulated PBMC from HIV antibody negative donors for HIV isolation. In addition, plasma samples from two antibody positive prostitutes with HIV antigenemia were processed for virus isolation. The presence of virus in the cultures was monitored by (i) assay for virus particle associated reverse transcriptase (RT) activity, (ii) HIV-antigen enzyme immunoassay, and (iii) indirect immunofluorescence test to detect expression of HIV specific core antigens p-24 and p-17 in infected cells using monoclonal antibodies to these antigens. The virus was isolated from PBMC from 2 prostitutes (86-4 and 86-5) and from plasma of one prostitute (86-20). These isolates have been characterised as HIV type-1 by dot blot hybridization using HIV-1 and HIV-2 proviral DNA probes.