HIV

Question 1

When was AIDS first recognised?

Answer 1

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was first recognised in USA in 1981 amongst homosexuals and drug addicts in whom the incident Kaposi’s sarcoma and Pneumocystis carinii( jiroveci) pneumonia were alarmingly high.

Question 2

Who first reported the causative agents of AIDS? What they called it?

Answer 2

Luc Montagnier and colleagues of the Pasteur Institute

Lymphadenopathy associated virus (LAV)

Question 3

Morphology of HIV?

Answer 3

1. Spherical envelope virus about 90 -120 nm in diameter
2. it contains two identical copies of single stranded, positive sense RNA genome.
3. Viral RNA is associated with reverse transcriptase enzyme.
4. The virus core is surrounded by a nucleocapsid composed of protein.
5. The virus contain a lipoprotein envelope, which consists of lipid derived from the host cell membrane and glycoproteins which are virus coded.
6. The major virus coded envelope glycoproteins are the projecting spikes on the surface and the anchoring transmembrane pedicles. These spikes bind to the CD4 receptors on susceptible host cells.