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Glossary

Selected words and phrases

fold-change – a term relating to drug resistance after a phenotype resistance test.

4-fold resistance (also called a 4-fold loss in sensitivity) means you need to use four times the dose to get the same reduction in viral load.

Atherosclerosis refers to a narrowing or hardening of large and medium sized arteries.

The narrowing is caused by a build-up of plaque, and usually takes many years.

As the walls of the artery thicken, the heart has to work harder to pump the same amount of blood through a narrower gap.

malaria – a parasite infection of red blood cells.

immune system – the system that your body uses to fight infections.

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.