placenta – the placenta is a temporary organ that develops in pregnancy and joins the mother and foetus. The placenta acts as a filter. It transfers oxygen and nutrients from the mother to the foetus, and takes away carbon dioxide and waste products. The placenta is full of blood vessels.
The placenta is expelled from the mother’s body after the baby is born and it is no longer needed. It is sometimes called the afterbirth.
prematurity (pregnancy) – when a baby is delivered after only 37 weeks or less.
T-cell – a type of white blood cell (lymphocyte) that are part of the immune system and that mature in the thymus (T). CD4 cells are also called T-cells.
tropism – the type of coreceptor used by HIV in order to attach to and then infect a cell. If HIV uses the CCR5 coreceptor on the surface of the a CD4 cell it is called R5-tropic. If it uses the CXCR4 co receptor it is called R4-tropic). Early HIV infection is usually R5-tropic but over time, especially in late disease (if CD4 counts drop to less than 50 cells/mm3) the virus shifts to being X4-tropic. Mixed tropic refers to a having some viruses that use R5 and some that use X4.
Cmax – highest concentration of a drug after a dose.