[Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in 4 homosexuals]

Two young homosexual men apparently without any obvious cause of immunosuppression suddenly developed a series of opportunistic infections. Two others presented with prolonged fever and multiple lymph node enlargement of obscure origin. Immunological investigations in these 4 patients showed skin anergy and inversion of helper/suppressor lymphocyte ratio. Proliferative responses to mitogenic agents, soluble antigens and allogenic cells were altered only in the 2 patients with opportunistic infections. Humoral immunity seemed to be preserved in all cases. These 4 patients had previously suffered from many sexually-transmitted infections, had spent some time in the United States and had signs of past or present cytomegalovirus infection. As in the U.S.A., where this "acquired immunodeficiency syndrome" suddenly developed during the past 2 years, one may suspect, among several hypotheses, that it is caused by a transmissible agent now present in France.