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Glossary
AIDS
Antibody
Antigen
ARVs
CBC
CD4
CD8
ELISA
HAART
HIV
HPV
KSHV/HHV8
MTCT/pMTCT
NNRTI
NRTIs/NARTIs
OIs
Viral load
AIDS- AIDS-Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS or Aids) is a collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus in humans.
Antibodies (also known as immunoglobulins) are proteins that are found in blood or other bodily fluids of vertebrates, and are used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects, such as bacteria and viruses. They are used to fight HIV virus in the body.
An antigen or immunogen is a molecule that stimulates an immune response. They can induce the generation of antibodies or other protective substance. Antigens are usually proteins or polysaccharides. These include parts (coats, capsules, cell walls, flagella, fimbrae, and toxins) of bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms.
ARVs - Antiretroviral drugs are medications for the treatment of infection by retroviruses, primarily HIV. Different classes of antiretroviral drugs act at different stages of the HIV life cycle.
CBC-A complete blood count, also known as full blood count (FBC) or full blood exam (FBE) or blood panel, is a test requested by a doctor or other medical professional that gives information about the cells in a patient's blood.
CD4 - Cluster of Differentiation 4 is a glycoprotein expressed on the surface of T helper cells, regulatory T cells, monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells. CD4 is also a primary receptor used by HIV-1 to gain entry into host T cells.
CD8- Cluster of Differentiation 8 is a transmembrane glycoprotein which serves as a co-receptor for the T cell receptor. CD8 cytotoxic lymphocytes recognize and kill infected CD4+ T cells.
ELISA- Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay, is a typical HIV test, used detect HIV antibodies in serum, plasma, oral fluid, dried blood spot or urine of patients.
HAART- Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy is a combination of several (typically three or four) antiretroviral drugs.
HIV-Human Immunodeficiency Virus is the etiological agent for AIDS. It is a retrovirus that primarily infects vital organs of the human immune system such as CD4+ T cells (a subset of T cells), macrophages and dendritic cells.
HPV- Human Papillomaviruses are a diverse group of DNA-based viruses that infect the skin and mucous membranes of humans and a variety of animals. Some HPV types may cause skin warts (condylomas) while others may cause a subclinical infection resulting in precancerous lesions. A group of about 30-40 HPVs is typically transmitted through sexual contact and infect the anogenital region resulting to genital warts. They are associated with diseases in HIV patients
KSHV-Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus is a gammaherpes virus that causes Kaposi’s Sacorma, one of the major HIV/AIDS associated malignancies, it often appears as purplish nodules on the skin, but can affect other organs, especially the mouth, gastrointestinal tract, and lungs. It also causes High-grade B cell lymphomas such as Burkitt's lymphoma.
MTCT – Mother to Child Transmission of HIV is the transmission of the virus from the mother to the child which can occur in utero during the last weeks of pregnancy and at childbirth. In the absence of treatment, the transmission rate between the mother to the child during pregnancy, labor and delivery is 25%
NNRTIs- Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors are the third class of antiretroviral drugs that were developed. NNRTIs block reverse transcriptase of HIV by binding at a different site on the enzyme.
NARTIs or NRTIs - Nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors compose the first class of antiretroviral drugs developed. NRTIs are analogues of the naturally occurring deoxynucleotides needed to synthesize the viral DNA and they compete with the natural deoxynucleotides for incorporation into the growing viral DNA chain.
NtARTIs or NtRTIs -Normally, nucleoside analogs are converted into nucleotide analogs by the body. Taking nucleotide analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NtARTIs or NtRTIs) directly allows conversion steps to be skipped, causing less toxicity. They have similar mode of action as NARTIs
OIs- Opportunistic Infections are infections caused by organisms that usually do not cause disease in a person with a healthy immune system, but can affect people with a poorly functioning or suppressed immune system. Opportunistic infections are common in people with AIDS.
Viral load is a measure of the severity of a viral infection, and can be calculated by estimating the amount of virus in an involved body fluid, for example, it can be given in RNA copies per milliliter of blood plasma. Determination of viral load is part of the therapy monitoring during chronic viral infections and in immuno-compromised patients, e.g. after bone marrow or solid organ transplantation and in patients infected with HIV-1, cytomegalovirus, hepatitis B virus, and hepatitis C virus.
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