Soluble Factor of Transformed B Lymphocytes in Patients with HIV Infection Stimulates Monocytes to Produce PGE2

Prostaglandins of the E series (PGE) were measured in the culture supernatants of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) obtained from patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Cell culture supernatants from 6 patients with acquired immunodeficiency disease (AIDS) and 11 patients with AIDS-related complex contained significantly higher concentrations of PGE than those from a group of 6 healthy HIV-negative male homosexual control subjects. The PGE producer cells were among the population of plastic-adherent PBMC. Transformed B lymphocyte cell lines spontaneously derived from the blood of patients with AIDS secrete a factor that stimulates normal donor adherent PBMC to produce PGE. The HIV permissive H9 cell line stimulated a significantly lower level of PGE production, which was not associated with HIV infection.