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.
diabetes – when the body either does not produce enough insulin (a hormone that helps the body turn sugar into energy) or is not responding to insulin (insulin resistance). There are two main types of diabetes and they have different mechanisms and treatments.
Type-1 is mainly reported in children but can also occur in adults and is linked to genetic risks.
Type-2 is mainly reported in adults (but increasingly in children) and is more commonly related to lifestyle factors including diet, exercise, weight/BMI. Some medications can increase the risk of Type-2 diabetes.
Diabetes can also be a side effect, including from some early HIV drugs, and this is sometimes referred to as a third type. This is because it was primarily caused as a side effect, rather than being driven by either lifestyle factors or genetics.
Other commonly-used drugs that can affect glucose regulation include corticosteroids and some drugs to reduce high blood pressure, or lipids.
HAV – hepatitis A, a virus that causes liver disease.
Hepatitis A.
genome – term for the complete genetic material (RNA or DNA) of any organism.
phenotype — relating to how an organism behaves, based on how its genotype relates to the environment. Phenotypic resistance tests look at whether HIV continues to grow in a test tube after increasing concentrations of a drug are added. See genotype.
