Epidemiological evidence and immunological/mathematical model of acquired cytotoxic T lymphocyte immunity to HIV infection in AIDS risk populations
Human immunodeficiency viral (HIV) infection transmission data is analyzed to show that considerable circumstantial evidence exists to support the hypothesis that acquired cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) immunity to the HIV infection is widespread in the major acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) risk populations. In the homosexual/bisexual and IVDU populations alone, it is shown that over a million people may have such immunity. A phenomenological model describing the dynamical impact of HIV on the immune system is then used in conjunction with an immunological model to demonstrate how CTL immunity could be generated. It is shown that noninfectious inoculations of HIV exist, leading to challenges that can be cleared by the host's immune system in a matter of weeks before antibodies can or need to be generated. Such hosts may have developed CTL immunity to HIV infection, a possibility that can only be verified by direct testing. If CTL immunity is long lasting, then a natural vaccine to HIV has presented itself. A national study should be undertaken without delay to measure the pervasiveness, effectiveness, and durability of CTL immunity to HIV. The infectiousness of an HIV inoculation is mathematically defined in the context of the model presented here, and its relationship to the animal infectious dose is described in detail. The modelling results in this paper are consistent with the epidemiological HIV transmission data, the demonstrated ability to generate CTL immunity to SIV in macaques, and the HIV viral load and infected T helper cell density data appearing in the literature. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
hiv infection aids ctl immunity viral load t helper cell density