B-cell subsets and platelet counts in HIV-1 seropositive subjects.

A subset of B lymphocytes positive for the CD5 antigen have been implicated in several autoimmune disorders. To investigate their role in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection, we studied peripheral-blood B and T lymphocytes from HIV-1-positive patients with (n = 13) and without (n = 18) thrombocytopenia, 8 patients with classic autoimmune thrombocytopenia, and 16 healthy controls. The proportion of CD5-positive B cells was significantly higher in the HIV-1-positive thrombocytopenic patients than in the healthy controls, as a result of both higher numbers of CD5-positive B cells and lower numbers of CD5-negative B cells. Platelet count was positively correlated with CD5-negative B-cell count (r = 0.6, p less than 0.001) and negatively correlated with proportion of B cells that were CD5 positive (r = -0.5, p less than 0.01) among the HIV-1-positive patients. The high concentrations of IgM-containing immune complexes in HIV-1-positive patients with autoimmune disorders may be due to changes in the CD5-positive B-cell subset.