Recovery of human immunodeficiency virus and detection of p24 antigen in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from adult patients with AIDS.

Published reports indicate that HIV is recovered from BAL fluid of patients with AIDS who have LIP but not with other AIDS-related pulmonary disease. Our experience has been different. Ten BAL specimens from nine patients with AIDS were cultured directly in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and all ten cultures were positive for HIV as indicated by examination of the culture supernatant by reverse transcriptase assay and enzyme immunoassay for HIV antigen. Five of the specimens were also positive for Pneumocystis carinii, and other pulmonary diagnoses included histoplasmosis, lymphoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, and aspiration pneumonia. Five additional BAL specimens were cultured after freezing at -70 degrees C, but only two were culture-positive for HIV (p = 0.022; FET). This study indicates that HIV can be recovered from the BAL fluid in most patients with AIDS, unrelated to the type of pulmonary disease. In contrast to cultures, HIV antigen was detected in the BAL fluid of only one patient, and that patient had LIP with noncaseating granulomas. Therefore, HIV culture is not useful in the diagnosis of LIP, but HIV antigen detection should be studied further. All BAL fluids should be considered potentially infectious.