Bone Marrow Transplantation, Ulcerative Colitis, and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

To the Editor.— It is universally recognized that bone marrow transplantation from an allogeneic donor is followed by severe and frequently prolonged acquired immune deficiency.^1,2 Many clinical and immunologic features of the syndrome resemble those of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), including reversal of the T4/T8 lymphocyte ratio.³ Because of these similarities and because recipients of marrow transplants also receive multiple transfusions of red blood cells and platelets, Atkinson and coworkers⁴ examined serum samples from 17 marrow transplant recipients for antibody to human T-cell lymphotropic virus type III (human immunodeficiency virus). Of the 16 patients who were seronegative, eight had severe infections, and it was concluded that the immune deficiency after marrow transplantation is not caused by an AIDS-associated retrovirus. A group in Paris,⁵ while in basic agreement with this view, has demonstrated antibody to the AIDS virus in 4% of marrow recipients before transplantation and in