Reactivation of HIV in PBMCs isolated from patients with asymptomatic HIV. PBMCs were infected with HHV-8 (H8) or treated with mitogens (M) and analyzed at the indicated times after infection. (A) rtPCR analysis for the presence and transcription of HHV-8; the results shown refer to one patient, but similar results were obtained for all the 14 subjects analyzed. MW indicates molecular weight marker. (B) Phase-contrast photomicrograph of HHV-8-infected PBMCs. A Nikon Eclipse TE2000-S microscope was used (with a 10 ×/2.8 numeric aperture objective), equipped with a DM100 digital camera (all from Nikon, Tokyo, Japan). (C) Results of PCR and rtPCR analyses of HIV load in cells and culture supernatant at 7 days after infection (same patient as A); similar results were obtained in 12 of 14 patients. (D) p24 antigen release in culture supernatant of control, HHV-8-, or mitogen-treated PBMCs from patients with HIV. Each value represents the mean of duplicate samples of the 12 responder patients. Error bars indicate SD.