Glossary

chorioamnionitis is an inflammation of the membranes that surround the foetus (called the chorion and the amnion). Chorioamnionitis is usually caused by a bacterial infection.

grade/grading – the grade of hepatitis infection refers to the amount of inflammation in liver tissue, found by a biopsy. It is usually measured on the Ishak scale from 1-18) where 0 is none and 18 is the maximum. See staging.

CCR5 inhibitor – type of HIV drug (an entry inhibitor) that blocks HIV from getting into a CD4 cell. CCR5 is a co-receptor on the surface of a CD4 cell that HIV uses to attach itself to the cell. CCR5 inhibitors block that process. Maraviroc is currently the only approved CCR5 inhibitor.

Drug targets in the virus life cycle.

viral tropism see tropism.

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.