Clinical, immunologic, and serologic findings in men at risk for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The San Francisco Men's Health Study
W. Lang, R. E. Anderson, H. Perkins, R. M. Grant, D. Lyman, W. Winkelstein Jr, R. Royce and J. A. Levy
Forty-nine percent of homosexual/bisexual men were positive for antibody to
the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in a population-based probability
sample of 1034 single men recruited from San Francisco. All heterosexual
men were negative. Among seropositive men, marked lymphadenopathy was
present in 29%, and 16% had at least two other symptoms or signs suggestive
of HIV infection. However, lymphadenopathy alone failed to indicate
severity of immune impairment. The occurrence of two or more clinical signs
and symptoms, except for marked lymphadenopathy, correlated with HIV
infection, diminished skin test reactivity, and reduction in Leu 3a T
cells. Twenty-nine percent of seropositive men had fewer than 400 absolute
Leu 3a T helper cells per microliter (less than 0.4 X 10(9)/L).
Seronegative homosexual/bisexual men did not differ from heterosexual men
in any clinical or laboratory variables except for increased numbers of
suppressor Leu 2a T suppressor cells per microliter.
