[Proof of diaplacental transmission of HTLV III/LAV before the 20th week of pregnancy]

Abstract

Tissue samples were taken from a 20-week old foetus in a mother with positive LAV/HTLV-III reaction without clinical or immunological signs of AIDS. These samples were used for cocultivation of LAV/HTLV-III. This resulted in inducing in MT-2 cells a cytopathic effect characteristic for LAV/HTLV-III infections, induced by thymus, spleen, lungs and brain tissue of the foetus after cocultivation with umbilical cord lymphocytes; in H-9 and MT-2 cells this led to the expression and release of antigens reacting with LAV/HTLV-III-specific anti-bodies. This observation shows that intrauterine infection of the foetus must have occurred already before the 20th week of gestation; the same target cells are involved via uterine transmission as via postnatal infection, i.e. cells of the lymphatic system and of the CNS.