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Elite Controllers
Long-term nonprogressors (LTNPs), sometimes also called elite controllers, are individuals infected with HIV, who maintain a CD4 count greater than 500 without antiretroviral therapy with a detectable viral load. Many of these patients have been HIV positive for 30 years without progressing to the point of needing to take medication in order not to develop AIDS. They have been the subject of a great deal of research, since an understanding of their ability to control HIV infection may lead to the development of immune therapies or a therapeutic vaccine. The classification "Long-term non-progressor" is not permanent, because some patients in this category have gone on to develop AIDS. Long-term nonprogressors typically have viral loads under 10,000 copies /mL blood, do not take antiretrovirals, and have CD4+ counts within the normal range. Most people with HIV not on medication have viral loads which are much higher. It is estimated that around 1 in 500 people with HIV are long-t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy
The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs as a strategy to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle. The use of multiple drugs that act on different viral targets is known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). HAART decreases the patient's total burden of HIV, maintains function of the immune system, and prevents opportunistic infections that often lead to death. HAART also prevents the transmission of HIV between serodiscordant same sex and opposite sex partners so long as the HIV-positive partner maintains an undetectable viral load. Treatment has been so successful that in many parts of the world, HIV has become a chronic condition in which progression to AIDS is increasingly rare. Anthony Fauci, head of the United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has written, "With collective and resolute action now and a steadfas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HLA Type
The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system or complex is a complex of genes on chromosome 6 in humans which encode cell-surface proteins responsible for the regulation of the immune system. The HLA system is also known as the human version of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) found in many animals. Mutations in HLA genes may be linked to autoimmune disease such as type I diabetes, and celiac disease. The HLA gene complex resides on a 3 Mbp stretch within chromosome 6, p-arm at 21.3. HLA genes are highly polymorphic, which means that they have many different alleles, allowing them to fine-tune the adaptive immune system. The proteins encoded by certain genes are also known as ''antigens'', as a result of their historic discovery as factors in organ transplants. HLAs corresponding to MHC class I ( A, B, and C), all of which are the HLA Class1 group, present peptides from inside the cell. For example, if the cell is infected by a virus, the HLA system brings fragment ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HIV-positive People
HIV-positive people, seropositive people or people who live with HIV are people who have the human immunodeficiency virus HIV, the agent of the currently incurable disease AIDS. According to estimates by WHO and UNAIDS, 34.2 million people were infected with HIV at the end of 2011. That same year, some 2.5 million people became newly infected, and 1.7 million died of AIDS-related causes, including 230,000 children. More than two-thirds of new HIV infections are in sub-Saharan Africa. However, fewer than 20% of them are actually aware of the infection. Infection with HIV is determined by an HIV test. Gender and diagnosis Diagnosis and gender play corresponding roles in recognizing the lives of those who live with HIV/AIDS. Women have not been diagnosed as early as men because their symptoms were not as obvious and doctors were not as likely to search for the disease in them as they are for men. This has also been based on the fact that far more men than women participated in cli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adam Castillejo
Adam Castillejo, also known as "The London Patient", is the second person known to have been cured of HIV infection. His body became resistant to HIV infection after receiving a bone marrow transplant to treat Hodgkin's lymphoma. The donor carried the CCR5-Δ32 mutation which gives resistance from HIV infection. He was treated by Professor Ravindra Gupta. See also * Timothy Ray Brown * Stephen Crohn * Innate resistance to HIV * Long term nonprogressor * HIV/AIDS research * Berlin Patient The Berlin patient is an anonymous person from Berlin, Germany, who was described in 1998 as exhibiting prolonged "post-treatment control" of HIV viral load Viral load, also known as viral burden, is a numerical expression of the quantity of vir ... References Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People with HIV/AIDS {{UK-bio-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Timothy Ray Brown
Timothy Ray Brown (March 11, 1966September 29, 2020) was an American considered to be the first person cured of HIV/AIDS. Brown was called "The Berlin Patient" at the 2008 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, where his cure was first announced, in order to preserve his anonymity. He chose to come forward in 2010. "I didn't want to be the only person cured," he said. "I wanted to do what I could to make curepossible. My first step was releasing my name and image to the public." Procedure Timothy Ray Brown was born in Seattle, Washington, on March 11, 1966, and raised in the area by his single mother, Sharon, who worked for the King County sheriff's department. He journeyed across Europe as a young adult and was diagnosed with HIV in 1995 while studying in Berlin. In 2006, he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. On February 7, 2007, he underwent a procedure known as hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to treat leukemia (performed by a team of doct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Crohn
Stephen Lyon Crohn (September 5, 1946 – August 23, 2013) also known as "The man who can't catch AIDS", was a man notable for a genetic mutation, which caused him to be immune to AIDS. He was a great-nephew of Burrill Bernard Crohn, for whom Crohn's disease is named. Crohn had the "delta 32" mutation on the CCR5 receptor, a protein on the surface of white blood cells that is involved in the immune system and serves as an access route for many forms of HIV virus to enter and infect host cells. This mutation rendered him effectively immune to many forms of HIV. Death Crohn committed suicide by a drug overdose on oxycodone and benzodiazepines at the age of 66. See also * Timothy Ray Brown *Adam Castillejo *Innate resistance to HIV *Long-term nonprogressor *HIV/AIDS research HIV/AIDS research includes all medical research that attempts to prevent, treat, or cure HIV/AIDS, as well as fundamental research about the nature of HIV as an infectious agent and AIDS as the disease c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HIV/AIDS Research
HIV/AIDS research includes all medical research that attempts to prevent, treat, or cure HIV/AIDS, as well as fundamental research about the nature of HIV as an infectious agent and AIDS as the disease caused by HIV. Transmission A body of scientific evidence has shown that men who are circumcised are less likely to contract HIV than men who are uncircumcised. Research published in 2014 concludes that the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone selectively impact HIV transmission. Pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis "Pre-exposure prophylaxis" refers to the practice of taking some drugs before being exposed to HIV infection, and having a decreased chance of contracting HIV as a result of taking that drug. Post-exposure prophylaxis refers to taking some drugs quickly after being exposed to HIV, while the virus is in a person's body but before the virus has established itself. In both cases, the drugs would be the same as those used to treat persons with HIV, and the intent of taki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Innate Resistance To HIV
A small proportion of humans show partial or apparently complete innate resistance to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The main mechanism is a mutation of the gene encoding CCR5, which acts as a co-receptor for HIV. It is estimated that the proportion of people with some form of resistance to HIV is under 10%. History In 1994, Stephen Crohn became the first person discovered to be completely resistant to HIV in all tests performed despite having partners infected by the virus. Crohn's resistance was a result of the absence of a receptor, which prevent the HIV from infecting CD4 present on the exterior of the white blood cells. The absence of such receptors, or rather the shortening of them to the point of being inoperable, is known as the delta 32 mutation. This mutation is linked to groups of people that have been exposed to HIV but remain uninfected such as some offspring of HIV positive mothers, health officials, and sex workers. In early 2000, researchers discovered a small ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asymptomatic Carrier
An asymptomatic carrier is a person or other organism that has become infected with a pathogen, but shows no signs or symptoms. Although unaffected by the pathogen, carriers can transmit it to others or develop symptoms in later stages of the disease. Asymptomatic carriers play a critical role in the transmission of common infectious diseases such as typhoid, HIV, '' C. difficile'', influenzas, cholera, tuberculosis and COVID-19, although the last is often associated with "robust T-cell immunity" in more than a quarter of patients studied. While the mechanism of disease-carrying is still unknown, researchers have made progress towards understanding how certain pathogens can remain dormant in a human for a period of time. A better understanding of asymptomatic disease carriers is crucial to the fields of medicine and public health as they work towards mitigating the spread of common infectious diseases. Types of asymptomatic carriers Asymptomatic carriers can be categorized by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Scientist
''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishes a monthly Dutch-language edition. First published on 22 November 1956, ''New Scientist'' has been available in online form since 1996. Sold in retail outlets (paper edition) and on subscription (paper and/or online), the magazine covers news, features, reviews and commentary on science, technology and their implications. ''New Scientist'' also publishes speculative articles, ranging from the technical to the philosophical. ''New Scientist'' was acquired by Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) in March 2021. History Ownership The magazine was founded in 1956 by Tom Margerison, Max Raison and Nicholas Harrison as ''The New Scientist'', with Issue 1 on 22 November 1956, priced at one shilling (a twentieth of a pound in pre-decimal UK cu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endogenous Retrovirus
Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are endogenous viral elements in the genome that closely resemble and can be derived from retroviruses. They are abundant in the genomes of jawed vertebrates, and they comprise up to 5–8% of the human genome (lower estimates of ~1%). ERVs are a vertically inherited proviral sequence and a subclass of a type of gene called a transposon, which can normally be packaged and moved within the genome to serve a vital role in gene expression and in regulation. ERVs however lack most transposon functions, are typically not infectious and are often defective genomic remnants of the retroviral replication cycle. They are distinguished as germline provirus retroelements due to their integration and reverse-transcription into the nuclear genome of the host cell. Researchers have suggested that retroviruses evolved from a type of transposon called a retrotransposon, a Class I element; these genes can mutate and instead of moving to another location in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
APOBEC3G
APOBEC3G (apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme, catalytic subunit 3G) is a human enzyme encoded by the ''APOBEC3G'' gene that belongs to the APOBEC superfamily of proteins. This family of proteins has been suggested to play an important role in innate anti-viral immunity. APOBEC3G belongs to the family of cytidine deaminases that catalyze the deamination of cytidine to uridine in the single stranded DNA substrate. The C-terminal domain of A3G renders catalytic activity, several NMR and crystal structures explain the substrate specificity and catalytic activity. APOBEC3G exerts innate antiretroviral immune activity against retroviruses, most notably HIV, by interfering with proper replication. However, lentiviruses such as HIV have evolved the Viral infectivity factor (Vif) protein in order to counteract this effect. Vif interacts with APOBEC3G and triggers the ubiquitination and degradation of APOBEC3G via the proteasomal pathway. On the other hand, foamy viruses produce an ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
