Sample Assignment on HIV PDF

Running Head: ASSIGNMENT ON HIV
0
HIV VIRUS
Student

ASSIGNMENT ON HIV
1
Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
History...................................................................................................................................................2
Morphology and characteristics of HIV.................................................................................................2
Symptoms of HIV infection....................................................................................................................3
Effects....................................................................................................................................................4
Organ system level............................................................................................................................4
Tissue level........................................................................................................................................4
Cellular level......................................................................................................................................4
Treatment & side effects........................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................6
References.............................................................................................................................................7

ASSIGNMENT ON HIV
2
Introduction
Human immunodeficiency virus or HIV is a virus that impaired the immune system. It
is transmitted through bodily fluids like blood, semen, rectal and vaginal fluids, and by breast
milk. It cannot be transmitted through air, water or casual touch. Presence of this virus in the
body is a serious condition that cannot be treated but can be managed for some years (HIV
Gov, 2017). In this particular term paper the history, morphology and characteristic features,
symptoms and causes of the virus, effects of the HIV infection, treatment and side effects will
be discussed.
History
Researchers believed that this virus was identified in chimpanzees and originated
from SIV (Simian immunodeficiency virus) in the 1930s. After some decades it was
transferred to Africa and other different parts of the world. This virus crossed from
chimpanzees to the humans in 1920 (Faria et al., 2014). The first verified human case of this
virus from the blood specimen, taken from a person in 1959. Firstly it was believed to be a
gay disease. In 1983 this deadly virus was isolated and identified for the first time by
scientists of Pasteur Institute in France (Burger-Calderon, Smith, Ramsey, SPNS Innovations
in Oral Health Care Initiative Team, & Webster-Cyriaque, 2016).
Morphology and characteristics of HIV
HIV is a lentivirus of retroviridae family, spherical and nearly 120 mm long. It is
made of two clones of RNA that are single-stranded and enclosed by capsid made of viral
protein. The capsid contains three different enzymes responsible for replication reverse
transcriptase, integrase, and protease. The capsid is enclosed by a matrix made of a viral
protein named P17 that play a key role in the integrity of virion particles. Genes present in the

ASSIGNMENT ON HIV
3
RNA genome includes gag, pol, and env which contain the information essential for making
the structural proteins for the new particles of the virus. The viral matrix is covered by two
different layers of phospholipid. The virus firstly binds to the CD4 cells and starts replicating
to affect a person’s immunity. During the budding the HIV exit CD4 and release HIV
enzyme. The incubation period of this virus is 2 to four weeks (Schur et al., 2015).
Figure 1 Structure of HIV. Sources: (Government of the District of Columbia, 2015).
Symptoms of HIV infection
For various people the primary infection is asymptomatic. Within two to four weeks a
patient may develop flu-like symptoms of HIV such as chills, fever, skin rashes, muscle
aches, fatigue, mouth ulcers, and swollen lymph nodes. After the asymptomatic phase the
immune system is further impaired and other diseases like the pelvic inflammatory disease,
the severe herpes infection can be caused. The untreated infection may result in AIDS and
show symptoms like rapid weight loss, diarrhea, pneumonia, and memory loss (NICHD,
2016). The patient may feel extreme tiredness, sadness, depression, anger, stress, and HIV
associated Neurocognitive disorder (HIV insite, 2017).

ASSIGNMENT ON HIV
4
Effects
Organ system level
HIV infection can affect different body systems like the immune system, respiratory
system, digestive and nervous system. The T and B cells are responsible to create antibodies
and killing the foreign invaders. HIV attacks these cells and alters their antibody production
ability. The immune system constantly fights with the virus and eventually, the body is
unable to produce t cells and the immunity has been lost with the time (McMichael,
BorrowTomaras, Goonetilleke, & Haynes, 2010). It can also infect the upper respiratory
system and causes lymphoma, and pulmonary hypertension (Crothers et al., 2011). It also
impairs the ability of the digestive system to absorb nutrients, food digestion and elimination
of waste. The alteration in the immune system and the gastrointestinal functions may lead to
diarrhea, oral thrush, and gastroesophageal reflux disease. HIV also affects the nervous
system if the body and may cause issues like meningitis and encephalitis (Hong, & Banks,
2015).
Tissue level
HIV mostly results in loss of brain tissues and causes thinning of these tissues by 10
to 15 percent then the normal human being. HIV infection can also impair the lymphoid
tissues and may lead to neurological complication to the body tissues. HIV virions attacks on
the follicular dendritic cells present in the central part of the lymphoid organs, after releasing
form here they are intermittently shed in order to cause more infection to the CD4+ T cells,
and to generate a chronic inflammatory condition that specifically leads to the destruction or
abnormality of lymphoid tissue (Duggal, Chugh, & Duggal, 2012).

ASSIGNMENT ON HIV
5
Cellular level
The cells infected by HIV are sixty times smaller than the normal RBCs. The
CD4=+T cells develops specific antibodies at the initial contact with the virus. The cells
count drops less than 200 in the HIV positive people. It can also infect the dendritic cells, and
WBCs and leads to autoimmunity. The HIV infection damages the mitochondria (Barve et
al., 2010), envelope and the reverse transcriptase enzyme (Betancor, Alvarez, Marcelli,
Andrés, Martínez, & Menéndez-Arias, 2015) and finally enters the nucleus of the cells and
starts replicating there (Schaller et al., 2011).
Figure 2 Infected cell (white) and healthy cells (Red). Sources: (Stanford, 2005)
Treatment & side effects
However, the treatment is not possible but the progression can slow down. The
treatment of this health condition involves antiretroviral therapy, which is the combination of
three top-four different medicines. This therapy prevents the replication of the virus and
slowing the HIV progression (Volberding, & Deeks, 2010). Some of the drugs approved by
US FDA include Nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs); integrate
strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs), and non- Nucleoside/ non-nucleotide reverse transcriptase
inhibitors (NNRTIs). Some of the NRTIs are abacavir, emtricitabine, and lamivudine.
Doravirine, efavirenz, and etravirine belong to NNRTIs classes of HIV drug. NRTIs and

ASSIGNMENT ON HIV
6
NNRTIs block the HIV enzyme reverses transcriptase and inhibits the proliferation of HIV.
Protease inhibitors such as atazanavir and darunavir block HIV protease. Side effects of these
drugs include serious allergic reactions, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, trouble breathing,
IRIS syndrome, headache, abnormal dreams, heart rhythm problems, fever, blisters, and
swelling of the face (Saag et al., 2018).
Conclusion
HIV virus is the deadly virus causes impairment of immune system, firstly isolated
and identified in 1983 by the researcher of Pasteur Institute in France. It is about 120 mm
long composed of two single-stranded RNA copies and belongs to the retroviridea family.
The symptoms associated with the HIV infection include fever, rashes, fatigue, sore throat,
night sweats, and muscle aches. It affects body systems like the immune system, digestive
system, and nervous system. It can also affect the body tissues and cause thinning of the
tissues. At cellular levels, it impairs mitochondria and other organelles f the cells such a cell
envelope, and enzyme reverse transcriptase. Medicine approved for HIV includes NRTIs and
NNRTIs. The side effects associated with these drugs include nausea, IRIS syndrome, and
swelling of the face.

ASSIGNMENT ON HIV
7
References
Barve, S., Kapoor, R., Moghe, A., Ramirez, J. A., Eaton, J. W., Gobejishvili, L., & McClain,
C. J. (2010). Focus on the liver: alcohol use, highly active antiretroviral therapy, and
liver disease in HIV-infected patients. Alcohol Research & Health, 33(3), 229.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3860514/
Betancor, G., Alvarez, M., Marcelli, B., Andrés, C., Martínez, M. A., & Menéndez-Arias, L.
(2015). Effects of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase connection subdomain mutations on
polypurine tract removal and initiation of (+)-strand DNA synthesis. Nucleic acids
research, 43(4), 2259-2270. https://academic.oup.com/nar/article/43/4/2259/2411629
Burger-Calderon, R., Smith, J. S., Ramsey, K. J., SPNS Innovations in Oral Health Care
Initiative Team, & Webster-Cyriaque, J. (2016). The association between the history
of HIV diagnosis and oral health. Journal of dental research, 95(12), 1366-1374.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0022034516661518
Crothers, K., Huang, L., Goulet, J. L., Goetz, M. B., Brown, S. T., Rodriguez-Barradas, M.
C., & Justice, A. C. (2011). HIV infection and risk for incident pulmonary diseases in
the combination antiretroviral therapy era. American journal of respiratory and
critical care medicine, 183(3), 388-395.
https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1164/rccm.201006-0836OC
Duggal, S., Chugh, T. D., & Duggal, A. K. (2012). HIV and malnutrition: effects on immune
system. Clinical and developmental immunology, 2012.

ASSIGNMENT ON HIV
8
Faria, N.R. et al (2014) 'The early spread and epidemic ignition of HIV-1 in human
populations' Science, 346(6205): 56-61.
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/346/6205/56
HIV Insite (2017). Coping with HIV/AIDS: Mental Health. Retrieved from:
http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/hiv?page=pb-daily-mental
HIV Gov (2017). How HIV is Transmitted. Retrieved from:
https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/about-hiv-and-aids/how-is-hiv-transmitted
Hong, S., & Banks, W. A. (2015). Role of the immune system in HIV-associated
neuroinflammation and neurocognitive implications. Brain, behavior, and
immunity, 45, 1-12.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889159114005054
McMichael, A. J., Borrow, P., Tomaras, G. D., Goonetilleke, N., & Haynes, B. F. (2010).
The immune response during acute HIV-1 infection: clues for vaccine
development. Nature Reviews Immunology, 10(1), 11.
https://www.nature.com/articles/nri2674
NICHD (2016). What are the symptoms of HIV/AIDS. Retrieved from:
https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/hiv/conditioninfo/symptoms
Saag, M. S., Benson, C. A., Gandhi, R. T., Hoy, J. F., Landovitz, R. J., Mugavero, M. J., &
Del Rio, C. (2018). Antiretroviral drugs for treatment and prevention of HIV infection
in adults: 2018 recommendations of the International Antiviral Society–USA
Panel. JAMA, 320(4), 379-396. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-
abstract/2688574

ASSIGNMENT ON HIV
9
Schaller, T., Ocwieja, K. E., Rasaiyaah, J., Price, A. J., Brady, T. L., Roth, S. L., &
Noursadeghi, M. (2011). HIV-1 capsid-cyclophilin interactions determine nuclear
import pathway, integration targeting and replication efficiency. PLoS
pathogens, 7(12), e1002439. https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?
id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1002439
Schur, F. K., Hagen, W. J., Rumlová, M., Ruml, T., Müller, B., Kräusslich, H. G., & Briggs,
J. A. (2015). Structure of the immature HIV-1 capsid in intact virus particles at 8.8 Å
resolution. Nature, 517(7535), 505.
http://www.sfb1129.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Schur-Hagen-2014-Nature.pdf
Stanford (2005). Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Retrieved from:
https://web.stanford.edu/group/virus/retro/2005gongishmail/HIV.html
The government of the District of Columbia (2015). Disease reporting & public health
information system. Retrieved from:
https://doh.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/doh/page_content/attachments/Provider
%20Forum%20-%20Disease%20Reporting%20&%20Public%20Information.pdf
Volberding, P. A., & Deeks, S. G. (2010). Antiretroviral therapy and management of HIV
infection. The Lancet, 376(9734), 49-62.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673610606769