Deterioration of B cell proliferation correlates with dendritic reticulum cell destruction in germinal centers of an AIDS patient. Case study.

A lymph node from a bisexual Caucasian male infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and in the persistent generalized lymphadenopathy (PGL) stage was studied. Dendritic reticulum cells (DRCs) were well preserved in over half of the germinal centers (GCs), while in the rest, they showed marked destruction, producing patchy or rather wide DRC-depleted areas. Proliferation-associated antigens, i.e., PC antigen and DNA-polymerase alpha, were demonstrated in nuclei of germinal center B cells in areas where the DRC network was intact, while they were prominently depleted in areas where the DRC network was lost. The p-24 viral core antigen was shown to be localized in DRCs, especially those in the process of degeneration. These results suggest that the DRC in this patient, when infected with HIV, were destroyed, and that the resulting DRC depletion led to the suppression of B cell proliferation in GCs.