Question

How do macrophages in the human body act as ‘HIV factory’?

Answer 1

Hint: Our immune system comes in action whenever it recognises any foreign antigen. In case of HIV the immune system gets damaged and it causes many alterations in the process of gaining immunity against the virus.

Complete step by step answer:
To solve this question, we should know about the macrophages. Macrophages are the important immune system cells that are formed as a result of any infection or accumulating damage or dead cells. They are large specialized cells that recognize the target cells and destroy it by engulfing the cell. The macrophages are formed through the differentiation of monocytes during tissue damage and infection. The monocyte leaves the blood and enters the affected organ or tissue and undergoes various changes to form macrophages. The structure of macrophages varies as they modify themselves into different structures depending on the type of infection. Thus, in this way the macrophages are considered as the first line of defense mechanism of our body against the infection.
Now, the macrophages in the human body work as reservoirs of HIV. HIV infects the body and replicates inside the cells to produce more HIV. However, the macrophages are latent and function as a storehouse of HIV that does not undergo replication inside this cell. When the latent form of HIV is present inside the cell the viral cells hide themselves inside the cells for a long time especially when the patient is under medication.

Note: The macrophages consists of specific protein markers in its surface like; CD14, CD11b, MAC-1/MAC-3, EMR1, CD68, and Lysozyme M. these markers help the macrophages to differentiate between the target cell and the own body cell.