Morphological alterations in the lymphoreticular system in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) manifests a profound deficiency in cellular and humoral immunity causing opportunistic infections with high mortality. Intensive searching for accurate diagnosis, effective treatment, and reliable preventions are in progress. Diagnostic findings include lymphocytopenia, decreased T-helper/T-suppressor ratio and antibodies against human T-lymphotropic retrovirus-III. Specific morphological markers for the diagnosis of AIDS are not yet available at this time. Consistent findings in the lymphoreticular system include a reactive hyperplasia in the onset to lymphocyte depletion in it's advance stage. The frequently mentioned ultrastructural changes in lymphoreticular cells are tubulo-reticular structures, test tube and ring-shaped forms, multivesicular and virus-like particles. These are, however, nonspecific for the diagnosis of AIDS.