Human immunodeficiency virus-1 infection of macrophages in vitro neither induces tumor necrosis factor (TNF)/cachectin gene expression nor alters TNF/cachectin induction by lipopolysaccharide.

The synthesis of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)/cachectin was assessed in primary monocyte-derived macrophage (MDM) cultures after in vitro infection with a macrophage-tropic strain of HIV-1 (HTLV-IIIBa-L/85). Productive and cytopathic infections in MDM cultures were established using a high multiplicity of infection (m.o.i. = 3) under conditions that minimized endotoxin contamination. Culture supernatants were tested for TNF/cachectin activity by L929 cell cytotoxicity assay, and TNF/cachectin mRNA was assessed by a sensitive PCR amplification technique that could detect between 1 and 10 cells fully activated for TNF/cachectin expression. Unstimulated MDM cultures produced no detectable levels of TNF/cachectin activity or mRNA, consistent with previous demonstrations that production of this cytokine by macrophages is an inducible and not a constitutive event. HIV-1 infection failed to induce detectable TNF/cachectin activity or mRNA in these unstimulated cultures. In addition, the responsiveness of macrophages to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induction of TNF/cachectin production was assessed in dose-response and kinetic experiments. No differences between infected and uninfected cultures were discernable. These results demonstrate that productive and cytopathic infection with a macrophage-tropic strain of HIV-1 does not alter the regulation of TNF/cachectin expression in macrophages.