HIVMirror It’s Easy at-home genetic test

Frequently Asked Questions

What is HIV?

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) has been in existence for more than 20 years. It's a virus that damages your body's ability to defend itself against infections and certain cancers. Some people believe that being HIV positive means you have AIDS. However, HIV is actually the cause of AIDS. You can be HIV positive for many years before it progresses to the AIDS disease and does enough damage to make you sick.

What is AIDS?

AIDS(Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) is the result of HIV damaging your immune system. A damaged immune system is unable to protect the body against certain opportunistic infections and cancers. People with AIDS may experience different health problems, depending on which opportunistic infection they develop. It is described as a syndrome because it is a collection of different symptoms that are all part of the same underlying medical condition.

How does HIV cause AIDS? The role of CD4 Cells

The term AIDS applies to the most advanced stages of HIV infection. HIV attacks key cells in your immune system known as CD4+ white blood cells. CD4+ white blood cells are important because they trigger your immune system to create antibodies to fight off infections. HIV uses these CD4 cells to make many copies of itself. The infected CD4 cell is destroyed and the new viruses are free to infect new CD4 cells. Once HIV depletes your CD4+ white blood cells, your immune system is prevented from working properly. This can ultimately lead to AIDS.

HIV as a Chronic Illness

HIV infection has shifted from being considered a fatal disease to being understood as a chronic condition. There is still no cure for the disease but advances in treatment have transformed HIV from a death sentence to a chronic illness. Also, the course of the disease is known but HIV progression varies among individuals.

CCR5, CD4 Cells and HIV Progression

It is known that genetic variants influence infectious disease outcomes. Since the beginning of the HIV epidemic, differences in the rate of disease progression have been observed in HIV-infected persons. Some persons progressed to AIDS rapidly and others progressed slowly. Many factors contribute to these various progression rates. The most common and understood factor is a mutation in the gene that codes for a receptor the virus uses to enter our cells.

The process of HIV infecting our CD4 cells can be thought of as an intruder trying to enter your home. HIV requires a receptor a "doorway" to gain entry into our CD4 cells. It must bind receptors on the surface of our cells or open the "locks" to gain entry. The first "lock" is opened by binding to the CD4 cell receptor on our white blood cells. It then needs to open a second "lock" in order to open the "door" to CD4 cells and infect them. This second "lock" or receptor is called CCR5 (Chemokine receptor 5). Some people have been found to have mutations in the CCR5 gene that codes for this receptor. This mutated gene is called CCR5 delta 32. The CCR5 delta 32 mutation is missing 32 base pairs or pieces of genetic code. This mutation alters the structure of the receptor so HIV cannot efficiently open the "lock" and enter the cell. .

Another mutation that has significant effect on HIV disease progression is found in the CCR2 gene. For the mutation CCR2-V64I, a G-to-A substitution in the coding region causes the amino acid valine to be replaced by another amino acid named isoleucine.

Additional Resources

CCR5

HIV / AIDS and CD4 Cells

FTC statement on Genetic Testing

This test is for informational purposes only and not a medical diagnosis.This test is not approved by the FDA and does not require FDA approval.

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