ABSTRACT
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease first described in the early 1980s and is characterized by a profound immunosuppression with diverse clinical manifestations. AIDS is caused by a human retrovirus called human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), first identified in 1983. The design and testing of inhibitors of HIV-1, HIV-2 and HTLV retroviral aspartic proteinases is one of the leading research activities focused on the therapy of the HIV infection. The critical step in the HIV infection is the high-affinity binding of the highly glycosylated outer surface gp120 to the CD4 molecule expressed on the T helper subpopulation of T lymphocytes, macrophages and dendritic cells. Long-term infection with HIV is characterized by a reduction in the absolute number of CD4-positive cells. The presence of anti-HIV antibodies in AIDS patients was detected quite early and is a basis of all preliminary screening tests.
