Excretion of Cytomegalovirus in Semen Associated with HTLV-III Seropositivity in Asymptomatic Homosexual Men

We studied 56 asymptomatic homosexual male volunteers in Pittsburgh for 11/2 yr for relationships between cytomegalovirus (CMV) and human T‐lymphotropic virus type III (HTLV‐III) infections. CMV was most frequently isolated from semen (8%) as compared with throat washings (5.9%) and urine (0%) on initial testing of CMV‐seropositive subjects. Other viruses commonly isolated from immunosuppressed patients (herpes simplex virus, adenovirus) were rarely detected in this cohort. Seropositivity to HTLV‐III was significantly associated with isolation of CMV from semen in our asymptomatic cohort (odds ratio = 9.5, p = .008). These results suggest that HTLV‐III infection is associated with selective, temporal activation of CMV in the genital tract of asymptomatic homosexual men.