Human immunodeficiency virus type 2: pathogenesis and antiretroviral therapy

Abstract

Human immunodeficiency virus type1 (HIV-1), human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2), and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) have been identified as hither unknown primate members of the Lentivirinae subfamily of the family Retroviridae in 1983, 1986 and 1985 respectively, HIV-1 and HIV-2 were identified as the causative agents of the newly emerging acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) of humans (1-3) and SIV was shown to cause AIDS in certain primate species, HIV-1 is clearly an emerging virus, which is expected to have infected between 30 and 40 million people by the year 2000, Although lentiviruses of different animal species share many biological features, the natural course of the disease they cause in their respective host species varies considerably, Table 1 summarises the currently known lentiviruses and their pathogenic characteristics in different host species, Elucidation of the differences in the pathogenesis of infection with different lentiviruses as well as the underlying mechanisms, may be expected to lead to a better understanding of the course of the natural infection with any of these viruses and will provide new tools for the development of intervention strategies, Most notably, the understanding of the marked differences between the natural diseases caused by the respective primate lentiviruses HIV-1, HIV-2 and SIV, may lead to the identification of new therapeutic and preventive measures for AIDS in humans, which in the light of the current pandemic spreading of this disease are more needed than ever