ENS 333 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Reverse Transcriptase, Viral Load, Seroconversion
9 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
Azidothymidine (azt: originally synthesized as antiviral drug to fight cancer, inert in mice, put on shelf for 2 decades, a very interesting set of compounds that were waiting for the right disease . B cells are useless without the t cells. Virus replication: viruses take over the cell machinery and start reproducing itself. Cell death in neighboring immune cells: other macrophages and dendritic cells. Seroconversion: cd4+ cells rebound to amplify plasma b cell response, and make progress in the war, antibodies are being pumped out, t cells start rebounding. Acute hiv syndrome: peaking hiv viral load, symptoms. Latency period: can extend for years, possibly asymptomatic, rate of viral production and cd4+ t cell recovery more similar than early phase. Constitutional symptoms: similar to acute hiv syndrome, virus overwhelming t cells, weight loss. Essential no immune system: when the cd4+ cell count drops below 200 microliters of blood, at risk for opportunistic infections/diseases.
