Hiv Pathogenesis and Treatment

Nanotechnology

A paper review

Introduction

Human immunodeficiency virus is a global illness that has plagued the lives of many. The virus is a retrovirus that belongs to the lentivirus family. Currently there is no cure for this illness, and treatment is mainly palliation of the symptoms. Therapy involves the use of highly active antiretroviral drugs. The drugs are divided into various classes which include; nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, protease inhibitors, maturation inhibitors and entry inhibitors. Therapy is initiated with the aim of preventing transmission, reducing viral load and immune reconstitution. However, therapy is marred by various obstacles such as poor adherence, pill load and adverse side effects.

Nanopharamaceutical drug delivery systems can be used to overcome these hurdles, and can be used to target the virus that lies in reservoirs. In addition, the nanoparticles have been shown to have anti HIV activity. Nanoparticles are those particles that are as small as 10^-9 of a meter. These particles when used to deliver drugs into the body have the advantage that they have special biochemical properties conferred by their small size. This is because the body functions via the recognition of structure and size of components. Therefore, the size of the nanoparticles may allow them to bypass the immune system and have access to protected organs such as the brain.

HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) gains access into the body via mucosal surfaces. The virus is captured by dendritic cells which are antigen presenting cells. These cells transport the virus to the nearest lymphoid organs and present them to the CD4 T cells. The interaction is facilitated by the presence of human leukocytic antigen type two, on the surface of the dendritic cell. The CD4 positive cells get infected with the virus, and their multiplication only serves to increase the viral load. There are various cells that act as reservoirs for the virus which include; macrophages, latent CD4 cells, and organs such as the brain. These reservoirs impede the treatment of the illness because reactivation occurs whenever therapy is stopped. Therefore, nanoparticle drug delivery would be capable of attacking the virus in both anatomical reservoirs and cellular reservoirs. Antiretroviral therapy has been unable to eradicate the virus and an individual is condemned to lifelong therapy.

The use of nanotechnology has various advantages over the use of normal drug delivery systems. One of the advantages is that the drugs that can be developed would have a longer half-life and greater bioavailability. This would greatly increase the efficacy of the drug. In addition nanotechnology