Histopathological changes of primary HIV infection. Description of three cases and review of the literature

A Case of Symptomatic Primary HIV Infection

A 30-year-old homosexual Japanese man had fourteen days of fever, malaise, appetite loss, sore throat, and four days of diarrhea and slightly congested eyes before he developed a skin eruption. He presented with measles-like exanthems on his face, trunk, and extremities. Deep red enanthems were seen on his left buccal mucosa opposite the premolar teeth, and whitish enanthems were seen on the buccal and gingival mucosa. HIV RNA was detected at the high concentration of 5.8 x 10(6) copies /ml in his serum. Cerebrospinal fluid examination revealed aseptic meningitis with 5,488 copies /ml of HIV RNA. Anti-HIV 1 antibodies against Gp160 and p24 tested by Western blot assay showed seroconversion on day 5 of his admission, seven days after he developed the skin eruptions. The fever lasted for three weeks from the initial onset, and the skin eruptions lasted for twelve days. Histopathologically, a mononuclear cell infiltration was seen mainly in the upper dermis surrounding small vessels and sweat ducts, with CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes predominant. Additionally, CD1a+ putative interdigitating dendritic cells had also infiltrated perivascularly, and were surrounded by CD8+ and CD4+ T cells. In situ hybridization study failed to detect HIV products in skin biopsy specimens. Our findings suggested that CD8+ T cells and their interaction with CD1a+ dendritic cells in the skin may be important in inducing skin manifestations in acute HIV infections.

Cutaneous CD8 T cell infiltrates in advanced HIV infection

BACKGROUND

Aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphomas are common among patients infected with HIV. Although such lymphomas are mostly of the B-cell type, various cases of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) have also been reported. Recent reports suggest that some HIV-related lymphoproliferative conditions may not be clonal processes, but polyclonal lymphoid proliferations.

OBJECTIVE

We reviewed our experience with HIV patients seen at the dermatology clinics for possible CTCL.

METHODS

A retrospective study was performed to evaluate clinical, laboratory, and histologic findings of HIV-infected patients with atypical T-cell cutaneous infiltrates.

RESULTS

We observed 9 patients with advanced HIV infection and a cutaneous eruption characterized by a dense infiltrate of lymphocytes resembling mycosis fungoides histopathologically, but composed of CD8(+) cells. Although clonality was not identified in any of the 6 cases tested, 3 patients had similar CD8(+) infiltrates involving lymph nodes or bone marrow. Of the 9 patients, 8 died of AIDS wasting syndrome or infections in less than 1 year.

CONCLUSION

Cutaneous and systemic infiltrates with polyclonal CD8 T lymphocytes can be seen in patients with advanced HIV infection and profound CD4 lymphopenia. The clinical presentation may resemble CTCL and is associated with a poor outcome.