I found this wonderful HIV/AIDS related dictionary online and chose what I thought some of the most important terms were to post on the blog. While I knew most of the terms, there were still many more that I was not familiar with. Hopefully this will give you some more useful information! For the actual site, check out the blogroll or the URL at the bottom of this post 🙂
Acute Infection: The time period just after a person is first infected with HIV but before their body mounts an antibody response that is detectable by conventional HIV tests. Frequently accompanied by “flu-like ” symptoms such as fever, rash, headache, swollen glands in your, joint and muscle aches, and fatigue. Also called primary infection. See HIV Basics section Symptoms of HIV for a description of the early infection period and symptoms.
Adverse Reaction: (Adverse Event.) An unwanted effect caused by the administration of medications or vaccine. Onset may be sudden or develop over time (See Side Effects).
Advocacy and Support Groups: Organizations and groups that actively support participants and their families with valuable resources, including self-empowerment and survival tools.
Antibody: An infection-fighting protein molecule in blood or body fluid that attaches to, neutralizes, and helps destroy bacteria, viruses or other harmful toxins (antigen). Antibodies, known generally as immunoglobulins, are made by white blood cells in response to a foreign substance. Each specific antibody binds only to the specific antigen that stimulated its production. (See also immunoglobulin; binding antibody; enhancing antibody; functional antibody; neutralizing antibody.)
ART: Formally known as HAART [Highly Active Antiretroviral Treatment], ART is defined as treatment with at least three active anti-retroviral medications (ARV’s), typically two nucleoside or nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI’s) plus a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) or a protease inhibitor (PI) or another NRTI called abacavir (Ziagen). ART is often called the drug “cocktail” or triple-therapy. [See HIV Basics >Treatment Options and HIV Basics > Topic of the Month January 2003]
Attenuated Virus: A weakened virus. Attenuated viruses are often used as vaccines because they can no longer produce disease but still stimulate a strong immune response, like that to the natural virus. Examples of attenuated virus vaccines include oral polio, measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines.
Baseline: Information gathered at the beginning of a clinical trial, just before a participant starts to receive the treatment(s) that are part of the study. At this reference point, measurable values such as CD4 count are recorded. The safety and efficacy of a drug are often determined by monitoring changes from the baseline values.
Bias: When someone’s point of view prevents impartial judgment on an issue. In clinical studies, bias is controlled by blinding and randomization [See Blind and Randomization].
CD4 Cell Count: A type of cell also known as “helper” T-cells, which help by mobilizing your immune defense when your body has an infection. [SeeUnderstanding Test Results].
Clinical Trial: A clinical trial is a research study designed to answer specific questions about vaccines or new therapies or new ways of using known treatments. Clinical trials (also called medical research and research studies) are used to determine whether new drugs or treatments are both safe and effective. Carefully conducted clinical trials are the fastest and safest way to find treatments that work in people. Trials occur in four phases: Phase I tests a new drug or treatment in a small group; Phase II expands the study to a larger group of people; Phase III expands the study to an even larger group of people; and Phase IV takes place after the drug or treatment has been licensed and marketed. [See Phase I, II,III, and IV Trials].
Drug-Drug Interaction: A modification of the effect of a drug when administered with another drug. The effect may be an increase or a decrease in the action of either substance, or it may be an adverse reaction that is not normally associated with either drug.
Drug Resistance: Occurs when the virus a person is infected with is no longer sensitive to a medication. Even when the viral load is undetectable, a small amount of virus is still present and copying itself in an HIV-positive person’s body. The ‘copies’ (of the replicating viruses) that survive are those which the drug cannot suppress. These surviving copies have mutated and developed resistance to the medication. Sooner or later, the number of copies of this mutated virus will increase and may require someone to change their treatment.
Drug Resistance Testing: Measures which of the 16 HIV medications an infected person’s virus may have developed resistance to[See Reading Test Results].
Efficacy: (Of a drug or treatment). The maximum ability of a drug or treatment to produce a result regardless of dosage. A drug passes efficacy trials if it is effective at the dose tested and against the illness for which it is prescribed. In the procedure mandated by the FDA, Phase II clinical trials gauge efficacy, and Phase III trials confirm it [See Food and Drug Administration] [See Phase 1, 2, 3, and 4 Trials].
Epidemiology: The branch of medicine that studies the number of new cases of a disease or condition, the way a disease or condition is distributed across different groups, and the methods of controlling a disease or condition..
HAART: Stands for Highly Active Antiretroviral Treatment. HAART is defined as treatment with at least three active anti-retroviral medications (ARV’s), typically two nucleoside or nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI’s) plus a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) or a protease inhibitor (PI) or another NRTI called abacavir (Ziagen). HAART is often called the drug “cocktail” or triple-therapy. [See HIV Basics >Treatment Options]
Helper T-cell: lymphocyte bearing the CD4 marker. Helper T cells are the chief regulatory cells of the immune response. They are responsible for many immune system functions, including turning antibody production on and off, and are the main target of HIV infection. (See also CD4+ T lymphocyte.)
HIV Viral Set Point: The natural amount of HIV an HIV-positive person accumulates in their body after primary infection. The amount of virus differs from person to person.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus, type 1 (HIV-1): The retrovirus isolated and recognized as the cause of AIDS. HIV-1 is classified as a lentivirus in a subgroup of retroviruses. The genetic material of a retrovirus such as HIV is RNA . HIV converts its RNA into DNA and inserts into the host cell’s DNA, preventing the host cell from carrying out its natural functions and turning it into an HIV factory.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus, type 2 (HIV-2): A virus closely related to HIV-1 that has also been found to cause AIDS. It was first isolated in West Africa. Although HIV-1 and HIV-2 are similar viruses, are transmitted in the same way, and cause the same sorts of illness, HIV-2 is less aggressive than HIV-1 and does not always react to HIV medications in the same way as HIV-1.
Hypothesis: The idea or assumption which is the basis of an argument or research study.
Immune Deficiency: A breakdown or inability of certain parts of the immune system to function, thus making a person susceptible to diseases (or “opportunistic infections”) that they would not ordinarily develop.
Immunity: nNatural or acquired resistance provided by the immune system to a specific disease. Immunity may be partial or complete (meaning someone may or may not be totally immune to a disease), specific or nonspecific (meaning that the immunity may apply to a single disease or multiple diseases), long-lasting or temporary (meaning the immunity may last someone’s entire life or may eventually go away).
Immunotherapy: a treatment that stimulates or modifies the body’s immune response.
informed consent: The process of learning the key facts about a clinical trial before deciding whether or not to participate. It is also a continuing process throughout the study to provide information for participants. To help someone decide whether or not to participate, the doctors and nurses involved in the trial explain the details of the study. There is also an informed consent document which states why the particular clinical trial is being done, what procedures will be done during the course of the study, what possible risks there may be and information about the rights and responsibilities of a study participant. This document must be signed by the clinical trial participant before any study procedure can begin.
Intervention: Primary interventions being studied. Types of interventions are Drug, Gene Transfer, Vaccine, Behavior, Device, or Procedure.
Investigational New Drug: A new drug, antibiotic drug, or biological drug that is used in a clinical investigation. It also includes a biological product used in vitro for diagnostic purposes. Investigational New Drug is a status given to an experimental drug after the FDA agrees that it can be tested in people.
Isolate: a particular strain of HIV-1 taken from a person.
Lipoatrophy: Lipoatrophy is abnormal fat loss, often in the face, arms, and legs which may alter someone’s appearance. Fat inside the abdomen may also increase.
Lipodystrophy: A condition in which the body produces, uses, and disproportionately distributes fat. Lipodystrophy may also be referred to as “buffalo hump,” “protease paunch,” “crixivan potbelly,” or “AIDS belly.” Lipodystrophy is thought to be related to the use of protease inhibitor and NRTI drugs, though how these drugs may cause or trigger lipodystrophy is not yet known. Lipodystrophy symptoms involve the loss of the thin layer of fat under the skin, making veins seem to protrude, wasting of the face and limbs, and the accumulation of fat on the abdomen (both under the skin and within the abdominal cavity) or between the shoulder blades.
Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor (NRTI): A type of antiretroviral drug whose chemical structure is made up of a modified version of a natural nucleoside. These compounds suppress reproduction of retroviruses by interfering with reverse transcriptase enzyme, a protein needed for HIV to reporduce.
Opportunistic Infection: An illness caused by an organism that usually does not cause disease in a person with a normal immune system. People with advanced HIV infection suffer opportunistic infections of the lungs, brain, eyes and other organs.
Pathogen: Any disease-producing microorganism or material.
Pathogenesis: The origin and development of a disease. More specifically, it’s the way a microbe (bacteria, virus, etc.) causes disease in a person.
Placebo Effect: A physical or emotional change, occurring after a substance is taken or administered, that is not the result of any special property of the substance. The change may be beneficial, reflecting the expectations of the participant and, often, the expectations of the person giving the substance.
Polyvalent Vaccine: a vaccine that is produced from multiple viral strains, or is made to induce immune responses against multiple strains.
Prevention Trials: Refers to trials to find better ways to prevent disease in people who have never had the disease or to prevent a disease from returning. These approaches may include medicines, vitamins, vaccines, minerals, or behavioral changes.
Preventive HIV Vaccine: a vaccine designed to prevent getting infected from HIV.
Primary Care Provider (PCP): Refers to a health care professional who provides you with comprehensive medical care. A Primary Care Provider can be a medical doctor or physician [MD], a physician’s assistant [PA] or a nurse practitioner [NP]. He or she conducts your regular physical exams and takes care of your health care needs. When necessary, your primary care provider refers you to a specialist for further examination and treatment.
Protease Inhibitor: one of a class of anti-HIV drugs designed to inhibit the enzyme protease and interfere with virus replication. Protease inhibitors prevent HIV precursor proteins from dividing into smaller cells of active proteins, a process that normally occurs when HIV reproduces.
Receptor: a molecule on the surface of a cell that serves as a recognition or binding site for antigens, antibodies or other cellular or immunologic components.
Resistance Testing:
There are three types of resistance testing:
- Genotype Testing: a type of resistance test that looks for changes (mutations) in HIV that may be associated with drug resistance (this is when HIV is no longer controlled by drugs).
- Phenotype Testing: a kind of resistance testing that, instead of using mutation analysis, grows the virus in the presence of various concentrations of drug to see which drugs the HIV is still sensitive to (not resistant to). Standard phenotype tests take approximately 4 weeks to show results and the test is very expensive.
- Virtual Phenotype: a system used to give the same information as the standard phenotype test – that is, information about which drugs will work to control the HIV – by comparing information gathered from over 35,000 actual phenotype tests to see which drugs will still have an effect on those mutations. This is done by entering the results from a genotype test into the database of available information. All these tests can be very helpful in making treatment decisions about which medications will work against the mutations one has developed in order to try to get the HIV under control and reduce viral load.
Retrovirus: HIV and other viruses that carry their genetic material in the form of RNA rather than DNA and have the enzyme, reverse transcriptase, that can transcribe it into DNA. In most animals and plants, DNA is usually made into RNA, hence “retro” is used to indicate the opposite direction.
Reverse Transcriptase: the enzyme produced by HIV and other retroviruses that enables them to direct a cell to synthesize DNA from their viral RNA.
RNA (ribonucleic acid): a single-stranded molecule composed of chemical building blocks, similar to DNA. The RNA segments in cells represent copies of portions of the DNA sequences in the nucleus. RNA is the sole genetic material of retroviruses.
Serostatus: positive or negative results of a diagnostic test, such as an ELISA, for a specific antibody, in this case HIV.
Side Effects: Any undesired actions or effects of a drug or treatment. Negative or adverse effects may include headache, nausea, hair loss, skin irritation, or other physical problems. Experimental drugs must be evaluated for both immediate and long-term side effects [See Adverse Reaction].
Standards of Care: Treatment regimen or medical management based on state of the art participant care.
Surrogate Marker: an indirect measure of disease progression. In HIV disease, the number of CD4+ T cells per cubic millimeter of blood is often used as a surrogate marker.
Therapeutic HIV Vaccine: a vaccine designed to boost the immune response to HIV in a person already infected with the virus. Also referred to as an immunotherapeutic vaccine.
Vaccine: a preparation that stimulates an immune response that can prevent an infection or create resistance to an infection.
Viral Load: Measures the amount of new HIV produced and released into a person’s bloodstream. [See Understanding Test Results]
Viremia: the presence of virus in the bloodstream.
Virus: a microorganism composed of a piece of genetic material : RNA or DNA : surrounded by a protein coat. To replicate, a virus must infect a cell and direct its cellular machinery to produce new viruses.
Window Period: The ‘window period’ is period between an exposure and the time it can take to develop antibodies. If you take a HIV test during the “window period” the results may not be a true reflection of your HIV status.
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