ULTRASTRUCTURE OF THE JEJUNAL MUCOSA IN HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS INFECTION

SUMMARY The ultrastructural changes in the jejunal muscosa of 11 male patients, three with clinical AIDS, five with AIDS related complex-progressive generalized lymphadenopathy (ARC-PGL), and three who were only HIV antibody positive, were studied. In the enterocytes, major abnormalities were proliferation of smooth endoplasmic reticulum mitochondria1 changes, vacuolization of cells, and fat hold up. In the lamina propria, degeneration of enteric nerve axons and smooth muscle were seen. Microvasculature showed both endothelial cell degeneration and hyperplasia. The presence of tubuloreticular inclusions inendothelial cells paralleled the stage of the disease. Since none of the 1 1 patients had any opportunistic infection, these changes are likely to be the effect of HIV infection.