The immunopathogenesis of human immunodeficiency virus infection.

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is probably the most intensively studied virus in the history of biomedical research. A large number of distinct isolates have been cloned and sequenced, and the genes of the virus and several of the protein products of these genes have been characterized1. Furthermore, many of the pathogenic mechanisms associated with HIV infection that lead to clinical disease have been established, such as the functional abnormalities and quantitative depletion of CD4 T lymphocytes that cause the profound immunosuppression characteristic of advanced HIV infection2. It is generally agreed that HIV itself has the primary role . . .