A quarter- century wisdom that the progression of HIV to AIDS is driven chiefly by the ‘viral load’, that is the amount of HIV in the blood has been challenged by a new finding, published last Sunday in the journal Nature Immunology.
According to the study conducted by the researchers of the University of Texas Health Science Centre in San Antonio, the genetic profile of an individual greatly affects the replication of the human immunodeficiency virus as well as the body’s response to the virus. The interaction between the body’s immune system and the virus transforms an otherwise benign infection to a lethal one.
The two key genes responsible are called CCR5 and CCL3L1. There might be other genes responsible too, but they are yet to be identified. CCR5 controls a key receptor on the surface of the CD4 immune cell onto which the HIV fastens. CCL3L1, controls chemokine, the immune system signaling molecule, that prevents the HIV virus from attaching itself to the CCR5 receptor.
The same team of researchers had earlier in 2005 established that people with extra copies of the gene CCL3L1 (the number varying from zero to five or more for different individuals) are less likely to be infected by HIV.
According to UNAIDS and WHO at the end of 2006 there were a total of 39.5 million people worldwide living with HIV or AIDS.
Source: news.yahoo.com
Image: wehaitians.com
