The HIV is present in relatively small numbers in early infection. It is like a herd of sheep that builds up month by month as it replicates in the CD4.
The immune system is finely tuned. The motley bunch of white cells will identify, memorize, capture, shepherd and engulf. The HIV is herded down to the CD4 in the gut lining.
There are two types of CD4 cells. There are those that float freely in the blood and lymph and those attached to the mucosal layer of the anus, mouth, penis and vagina. The major accumulation of CD4 cells is in the gut lining to protect the body from infection from the gut bacteria.
HIV does not attack but is engulfed by CD4 where the HIV replicates as a retrovirus. The white blood cells are like sheep dogs that herd the sheep into their pens.
By some wondrous process, the white cells shepherd the HIV to the gut CD4 imbedded in millions in the gut lining. The report below is our favourite. Many other reports on Google make the same basic explanation.
Gut warfare
HIV is supposed to be a slow and stealthy killer. For years, scientists ... After that
initial attack, HIV appears to move in slow motion, taking ... a role the gut plays in
the disease progression ... Four years later, Andrew Lackner and colleagues at ...
When the HIV replication is complete, the new HIV cells break out of the CD4 cells, leaving dead shells in the gut lining.
The body still has enough protein absorption to replace the dead CD4 perhaps for a number of years as long as the patient is eating protein that can be absorbed through the gut wall.
But as the gut lining is slowly being destroyed, the gut attack slows down as the numbers of CD4 cells are reduced. The sufferer loses the capacity to absorb nutrients, water and salts. Then the person dies under a massive load of suffocation, infection and starvation.
The process of destruction will be stopped by timely treatment with antiretroviral drugs, sooner rather than later.
The damage to the brain upsets the hormone production and the water-salt balance that is regulated through the pituitary gland. Dementia is an unavoidable consequence. The body systems are all inter-related.
initial attack, HIV appears to move in slow motion, taking ... a role the gut plays in
the disease progression ... Four years later, Andrew Lackner and colleagues at ...
When the HIV replication is complete, the new HIV cells break out of the CD4 cells, leaving dead shells in the gut lining.
The body still has enough protein absorption to replace the dead CD4 perhaps for a number of years as long as the patient is eating protein that can be absorbed through the gut wall.
But as the gut lining is slowly being destroyed, the gut attack slows down as the numbers of CD4 cells are reduced. The sufferer loses the capacity to absorb nutrients, water and salts. Then the person dies under a massive load of suffocation, infection and starvation.
The process of destruction will be stopped by timely treatment with antiretroviral drugs, sooner rather than later.
The damage to the brain upsets the hormone production and the water-salt balance that is regulated through the pituitary gland. Dementia is an unavoidable consequence. The body systems are all inter-related.
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