IDENTIFICATION OF THE PROBABLE CAUSATIVE AGENT OF AIDS although the modes of transmission of the causative agent of AIDS HAD

BEEN KNOWN SINCE 1981. identification of HTLV-III AS THE PROBALE CAUSITIVE AGENT OF THE DISEASE WAS NOT ACCOMPLISED UNTIL 1984. THAT A VIRUS WAS THE CAUSE OF AIDS HAD BEEN SUSPECTED . HOWEVER THE VIRUS COULD NOT BE ISOLATED FROM THE T CELLS, WHICH MIGHT HAVE ALLOWED THE VIRUS TO PROLIFERATE. WHEN GROWN IN TISSUE CULTURE , FAILED TO GROW . ROBERT GALLO OF HEALTH AND HIS COLLEAGUES BELIVED THAT IF THE VIRUS WAS PRESENT IN THESE T CELLS. IT MIGHT MERELY BE KILLING THE CELLS BEFORE MUCH VIRAL PROLIFERATION COULD OCCUR AKILLING ACTION ON T CELLS WOULD BE CONSISTENT WITH THE SEVERE DECREASE IN THE LEVEL OF T CELLS THAT OCCURS IN AIDS PATIENTS.

THE BREAK THROUGH CAME WHEN A SUITABLE PERMISSIVE T-CELL TISSUE CULTURE SYSTEM WAS DEVELOPED BY GALLO AND HIS COLLEAGUE . THEY FOUND A T-CELL AND WHICH ALLOWED PRAPOGATION OF THE AIDS VIRUS BUT NOT KILLED BY THE VIRUS .WITH THE NEW SYSTEM, THE VIRUS WAS OBTAINED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN AMOUNTS SUFFICIENT TO ALLOW ITS ANTIGENITC PROPERTIES TO BE DETERMINED. THE VIRUS WAS RELATED TO HTLV-1 AND HTLV-2 BUT BELONGED TO A NEW SUB GROUP. THE NEW VIRUS WAS ISOLATED FROM 18 OF 21 INDIVIDUALS WITH " PRE-AIDS" ( MILD , EARLY SYMPTOMS OF AIDS) AND FROM 26 OF 72 PATIENTS WITH CLINICAL CASES OF AIDS FURTHER EVIDENCE FOR THE ROLE OF HTLV-3 IN AIDS WAS PROVIDED WHEN ANTIBODIES AGAINST THE VIRUS WERE DETECTED IN 43 OF 49 AIDS PATIENTS. THE ANTIBODIES WERE NOT DETECTEDIN 185 OF 186 CONTROL INDIVIDUALS EVEN IN INDIVIDUALS HAVING VARIOUS OTHER DISORDERS OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM . SUB SEQUENT IMPROVED DETECTION TECHNIQUES HAVE INDICATED PRESENCE OF ANTIBODIES AGAINST HTLV-III IN 100 PERCENT OF AIDS AND PRE AIDS PATIENTS TESTED BUT NONE IN CONTROL INDIVIDUALS . THESE DATA PROVIDE STRONG CIRCUMSTATIAL EVIDENCE THAT HTLV-3 IS THE CAUSITIVE AGENT OF AIDS. THERE ARE PRESENTLY SUB-TYPE GROUPS. HTLV-1 HTLV-2 HTLV-3 HTLV-1 IS THE GROUP MOST COMMONLY ISOLATED AND CAUSES A TYPE OF T CELL LEUKEMIA IN ADULTS WHICH IS ENDEMIC IN CERTAIN AREAS OF JAPAN , CARRIBBEAN , AND AFRICA. HTLV-II HAS BEEN ISOLATED FROM A PATIENT WITH DIFFERENT TYPE OF LEUKEMIA HAIRY-CELL LEUKEMIA HTLV-III IS THE PROBLE CAUSITIVE AGENT OF ACQUIRED IMMUNODEFICENCY SYNDROME (AIDS), A DISEASE CHARACTERIZED LEVELS OF HELEPER T -LYMPHOCYTES (T CELLS THAT RECOGNIZE AN ANTIGEN AND THEN FACILITATE A BCELL RESPONSE TO IT.