The LAV/HTLV-III virus may evade elimination by the immune system by inducing low zone tolerance to itself.
The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is caused by the LAV/HTLV-III virus. The incubation period for AIDS is prolonged and on the order of years. We hypothesize that during this prolonged incubation period the LAV/HTLV-III virus is replicating very slowly and is present in extremely low concentrations. The concentrations of the virus may be low enough that the virus induces a low zone tolerance to itself in the T-cell arm of the immune system. B-cells which are resistant to direct low dose tolerance induction may remain responsive to the LAV/HTLV-III virus in a direct fashion without specific helper T-cells. Thus, anti-LAV/HTLV-III antibody may be produced even though the more important cellular immune response has been crippled by the virus. We also outline two hypothetical approaches for breaking this tolerance and restoring the cellular immune response to the LAV/HTLV-III virus.
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000276:immunology*; D006678:HIV / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology