HIV Replication

A continue loss of CD4+ T lymphocytes, immune response dysfunction and chronic immune activation (IA) are hallmarks of untreated chronic HIV-1 infection. ROS and the subsequent oxidative stress have been connected with chronic activation of the immune system, viral replication, immune dysfunction, programmed cell death, and neurological damage, all considered to be major contributing issues in HIV-1 diseases progression. It has been demonstrated that HAART partially restore the antioxidant capacity by suppressing HIV, and it has been suggested that antioxidant therapy in combination with HAART could protect the blood brain barrier from oxidative stressinduced damage. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain how HIV could modulate ROS generation and several HIV proteins have been shown to modulate ROS production. The development of a vaccine against HIV is a global health priority and a tremendous scientific challenge that has been hampered by the extraordinary genetic diversity of HIV and the immune evasive properties of the HIV envelope glycoprotein to which neutralizing antibodies target. In 2006, Robert Gallo commented: “…if AIDS had to come, we were lucky (scientifically speaking) it came at a very good time”. He referred to the accumulated knowledge on the retroviral replication cycle and the modern tools in molecular biology that were developed in the seventies which became available in the eighties when HIV was discovered. Although the HIV/AIDS epidemics came at a good time, HIV has proven to be unique in its transmission, pathogenesis and replication, hampering the way to the discovery of a vaccine and effective therapy. (Mariana Varela, The Current State of HIV Vaccine Research).

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Last date updated on January, 2025