The eighth mystery of acquired immune deficiency syndrome and the ‘Trojan horse’ mechanism

Abstract

Human immunodeficiency virus protease inhibitors produce in acquired immune deficiency virus patients a decrease in both existing and new human immunodeficiency virus accompanied by an increase in CD4 + T cells. Yet these inhibitors are not capable of destroying existing human immunodeficiency virus. Thus human immunodeficiency virus cannot explain this ‘eighth’ mystery, nor can it explain the destruction of five times more CD4 + T cells than the plasma human immunodeficiency virus, either by apoptosis, by reduction in the half-life of human immunodeficiency virus, or by inducing killer cells. It is proposed that the human immunodeficiency virus protease inhibitors (and the reverse transcriptase non-nucleoside inhibitor Nevirapine) inhibit the sperm's proteases which then produces: (1) a reduction in existing human immunodeficiency virus by causing an increase in CD8 + T cells; (2) a reduction in new human immunodeficiency virus by inhibiting the activity of the ‘Trojan horse’ sperm, and (3) an increase in CD4 + T cells by a reduction in the ability of the sperm's proteases to cause apoptosis. The protection of the human immunodeficiency virus genetic material inside the ‘Trojan horse’ sperm produces a steady-state, rapid turnover of human immunodeficiency virus. Thus the body's immune system, although capable of quickly destroying human immunodeficiency virus, can only dramatically destroy the offspring released into the plasma from sperm-infected T cells and is unable to destroy the source of human immunodeficiency virus, the ‘Trojan horse’ sperm.