Glossary

portal hypertension – increased blood pressure (hypertension) in the vein carrying blood to the liver.

integrase inhibitor – a type of HIV drug that stops HIV genetic material from ‘integrating’ into the DNA in a cell.

This is a relatively new family of HIV drugs.

Raltegravir, elvitegravir and dolutegravir are all integrase inhibitors.

IV (intravenous) – injecting into a vein. See SC (sub-cutaneous) and IM (intra-muscular).

viral rebound – when your viral load has been undetectable (under 50 copies/mL) and then becomes detectable. Sometimes viral rebound can be a lab error, sometimes a small temporary blip, and sometimes a real rebound that shows your virus may have developed resistance to one or more of the drugs in a combination treatment. See: virological failure.

antioxidant – a substance that reduces oxidative damage (damage due to oxygen) such as that caused by ‘free radicals’