HIV Peptides

For 30 years, HIV has been a global epidemic effecting people of all races, genders and socio-economic levels. What has always been considered an evil may prove to be the source of a new wave of medical treatment. HIV peptides, the proteins that lead the attack against host cells, could be a new means of medical treatment and gene therapy.

How HIV Attacks the Body

• HIV is a virus meaning that it attacks a host body's cells. HIV specifically attacks the body by targeting the cells of the body's immune system. Consequently, the repetitive attack on the immune systems weakens the body's defense against pathogens and makes it more susceptible to infection. HIV eventually kills its host, but it does so indirectly. Secondary infections such as pneumonia and the common cold kill the host because the body does not have the means to fight off the infection.

HIV Prevention

• Education and safe practices can prevent infection.

  The HIV is incredibly contagious by means of contact with bodily fluids. The only completely sure means of prevention is complete non-contact with infected bodily fluids. This has produced a need for prevention education by means of practicing proper sanitation and safe sex. Besides this, a 2005 report shows that the combination of prevention training and treatment for those already infected lowered infection rates in Africa. Continued prevention training and treatment is expected to further lower infection well into the future.

Global Statistics

• A 2007 study indicates that as many as 33.2 million people are living with HIV worldwide. 2007 also saw the death of 2.1 million as a result of HIV. Sub-Sahara Africa is affected by HIV more than any other continent on the planet. HIV affects more than just Sub-Sahara. It remains a worldwide epidemic and infection rates continue to increase each year.

HIV Peptides

• Much like a syringe, HIV peptides can be used to insert medicine into a target cell.

  For a long time in medical history, it was not understood how HIV viruses were able to affect healthy cells in the host body. Scientists understood that the HIV-Tat protein was able to penetrate the host cell outer membrane, but how exactly it was done was still unknown. However, in a 2008 study, scientists discovered by what means it was done. The HIV protein is positively charged while particles in the host cell are negatively charges. The opposite charges attract, causing the positively charged peptide to be pulled inside the membrane walls.

How Peptides Can Be Utilized in Medicine

• This process that is shown to make HIV so dangerous has the potential to be the dawn of a new era in medicine. Scientists now believe that HIV peptides can be used to carry medicinal treatments into target cells. Also, means of gene therapy can be carried out by HIV peptides. These peptides can potentially carry treatment by the exact same means as it does during HIV infection. This discovery has created a new field that is literally endless with the potential to be the biggest discovery in medical history.