Review
English
Mohamed Fadel1, Mohamed Elkabir2, Senusi Zaidan3, and Salem Al Agheli4
1- Oral biology department, Faculty of Dentistry, Al-Fateh University, Tripoli, Libya 2-3 Tripoli Medical Centre, Tripoli, Libya 4- Microbiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Fateh University, Tripoli, Libya
JMJ Vo1.7 No.1 (Spring) 2007:10-15
Abstract
Although HIV infection is now a global pandemic, it was first described as recent as 1981, in young homosexual men in USA. The disease however, appears to be originated in Africa, where cases have been revealed from as early as 1959. The virus causes depletion of CD4-T helper lymphocytes over many years, as a consequence, patients succumb to opportunistic infections, particularly Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and oral candidiasis. Saliva is known to inhibit the infectivity of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The presence of antimicrobial substances in different human tissues or secretions has been known for half a century but only until the 1960s peroxidases were considered to present such a role. Peroxidases oxidize ”pseudo”halides in the presence of hydrogen peroxide into hypo”pseudo”halous compounds which are powerful oxidant. Therefore, the sensitivity of HIV is tested toward the hypothiocyanite concentrations within physiological range. Moreover, the inhibitory effect of individual saliva is variable, and most of anti HIV activity was found in the salivary fraction which holds cell particles where the inhibitory effect should not depend on the peroxidase system. A peroxidase system consists of three different compounds: a peroxidase enzyme, a ”pseudo”halide and hydrogen peroxide (or a hydrogen peroxide donor). This mixture is referred to the complete oxidizing system.
Keywords: HIV, Peroxidase, Hypothiocyanite, ”pseudo”halide, Saliva.
Link/DOI: http://www.jmj.org.ly/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1366