Glossary

foetoplacental circulation is the blood supply in the foetus and placenta.

long-term non-progressor (LTNP) – An HIV positive person whose CD4 count stays above 500 copies/mm³ with very low viral load for more than five years, without using ART.

Some LTNPs have kept their CD4 count above 500 for more than 10-15 years without ART. Recent guidelines suggest the LTNPs should still strongly consider using ART. This is because ongoing HIV replication is still likely to increase the risk of serious illnesses, even at low viral load levels,

Because CD4 counts gradually fall in LTNPs, just very slowly, a more accurate term is long-term slow-progressors (LTSPs).

Elite controllers (ECs) are a sub-group of LTSP who also maintain undetectable viral load (less than 50 copies/mL) without ART. See: elite controller.

wasting – loss of lean body mass (muscle loss). A unplanned or unexplained wight loss of more than 5% body weight over six months can be an AIDS-defining illness.

Weight loss and wasting section of the training manual.

life cyle – the steps for an organism to reproduce or replicate.

The HIV life cycle includes:

• Attachment and binding to a CD4 cell).
• Fusion or joining the cell.
• Reverse transcription. When the single strand RNA becomes a double strand DNA.
• Integration. When the new double-strand virus enter the CD4 cell nucleus and is integrated into humn DNA.
• Replication. When new viral material is produced from the nucleus.
• Assembly and maturation. When new viral mateiral is cut up and reassembed to become new active virus.
• Budding. When the new virus leaves the CD4 cell.

See: HIV life cycle – how different drugs work in different ways.

methadone – a man-made opiate that used to treat heroin addiction. See also buprenorphine.