AIDS: our research illness
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus
Immune system actuation
HIV is a very powerful virus that begins to weaken the immune system from the moment it enters to the body. The infected cells release signals that activate the humoral system, but only manage to reduce and slow the infection process and not eradicate it completely; because the immune response that the body produces against HIV is not sufficiently effective.
Anti-p24 antibodies develop within the first weeks of HIV infection and can play an important role in the fall of the plasma virley associated with primary infection. The loss of anti-p24 antibodies has been associated with the progression of HIV disease.
Antibodies that neutralize HIV infectivity are an important mechanism responsible for partial control of viral replication.
Neutralizing antibodies can be:
- Specific type (that is, specific to a viral isolate) such as neutralizing antibodies that recognize the V3-loop region of the viral gp120 and can prevent the conformational change of the gp120 necessary for the entry of HIV or for the cell-virus fusion.
- Specific group (that is, specific to a wide range of viral isolates) that recognize epitopes of the gp41 protein, epitopes around the coupling site of CD4 to gp120 or epitopes of carbohydrate. Some neutralizing antibodies interfere with the interaction between HIV and CCR-5 and inhibit the cellular entrance of the virus.
These neutralizing antibodies against HIV are a powerful impediment to viral replication. In addition, several studies suggest that the presence of neutralizing antibodies with broad specificity correlates with a more favorable prognosis.
Some anti-HIV antibodies bind to the Fc receptor of the IgG on the surface of NK CD16 + and monocytes cells and sensitize them to mediate ADCC (Cytotoxicity mediated by antibody-dependent cells) against cells HIV-infected or HIV-covered. Most of these antibodies are targeted against HIV gp120 or gp41 proteins, developed shortly after primary infection and are perceptible throughout the HIV disease course, with a small decrease in the degree during the AIDS phase.