Variably acid-fast bacteria in vivo in a case of reactive lymph node hyperplasia occurring in a young male homosexual.

Ziehl-Neelsen (acid-fast) and Giemsa-stained microscopic sections of enlarged cervical lymph nodes obtained from a 39 year-old male homosexual with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) were studied for the presence of cell wall-deficient bacteria. Intra- and extra-cellular, variably acid-fast forms were observed within the lymph nodes showing "benign reactive lymph node hyperplasia." Similar-appearing variably acid-fast bacteria have previously been demonstrated in Kaposi's sarcoma, a malignancy which may ultimately develop in gay men with AIDS. It is hypothesized that these microbes observed in vivo may be pathogenic in immunodepressed states, such as the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.