Wounded.Bird@f38.n135.z1.fidonet.org (Wounded Bird) (08/21/90)
Here is a quote from the National Academy of Science's publication "Mobilizing Against AIDS". The problem is just not as simple as anyone imagined. "...Research scientists, physicians, and HIV infected patients recognize that AZT is not the solution to the AIDS problem - it prolongs the lives of some patients but is too toxic for others. Many different drugs will be needed to combat the diverse effects of the very complex virus responsible for AIDS." "HIV integrates itself into the genome of an infected cell. Before the discovery that the virus _replicates_ in cells in the brain, skin, colon, and cervix, as well as in T lymphocytes and macrophages, some researchers believed it might be possible to eradicate the disease by destroying all infected cells in the body. But this strategy no longer seems feasible. The most practical goal appears to be to supress viral replication and prevent the infection of healthy cells." The book also indicates that recent research findings support very long term periods of infection prior to indications of seroconversion because not all infected cells are capable of producing antibodies. Other tests must be used to determine infection by the virus. Detection of antibodies alone is just not accurate enough. And on heterosexual transmission it states: "Many of the early reports about homosexual and heterosexual transmission of HIV concluded with the speculation that transmission probably occurred when vrius in infected seminal fluid entered the bloodstream through small tears in the lining of the rectum or vagina. But recent evidence indicates that direct access to the bloodstream probably is not necessary for sexual transmission. The virus can infect local tissues in the rectum and the female reproductive tract."....... "The probable source of HIV infection in cervical secretions is infected cervical tissue. In March 1988, Roger Pomerantz of Massachusetts General Hospital and his colleagues reported that they isolated HIV from cervical specimens obtained from 4 seropositive women. The cells most often infected were monocyte/macrophages and endothelial cells." "In male-to-female transmission of HIV, contact with infected semen could lead to local infection of susceptible cervical cell; replication of the virus in those cells might precede systemic infection with HIV. Female-to-male transmission probably results from the sloughing of infected cervical cells into cervical and vaginal fluids." -- Uucp: ...{gatech,ames,rutgers}!ncar!asuvax!stjhmc!135!38!Wounded.Bird Internet: Wounded.Bird@f38.n135.z1.fidonet.org
jfh@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Jack Hamilton) (08/22/90)
In article <38221@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> Wounded.Bird@f38.n135.z1.fidonet.org (Wounded Bird) writes: >The book also indicates that recent research findings support very long term >periods of infection prior to indications of seroconversion because not all >infected cells are capable of producing antibodies. Other tests must be used >to determine infection by the virus. Detection of antibodies alone is just not >accurate enough. Well, that's certainly bad news, although not necessarily surprising. There have been hints of that before. Would there be any way other than a biopsy to detect infection in such a case? I guess not, unless one of the cells happens to float off and into the blood sample used for a PCR. -- Because of mail/disk problems at Netcom, I have adopted the policy of responding in some way to all non-listserv/non-acknowledgement email. If you don't hear from me, I didn't get it. Jack Hamilton jfh@netcom.uucp or claris!netcom!jfh