Causes and pathogenesis of AIDS in Africa

Causes and pathogenesis of AIDS in Africa

There is extensive literature describing the impact of malnutrition on the function and the structure of the immune system in people in Africa (Al-Bayati, 1999). This information clearly demonstrates that AIDS in Africa is more likely to be caused by starvation than by HIV. The functions of the immune system, especially the cellular immunity, are impaired in malnutrition cases. The severity of the impairment is dependent on the degree of malnutrition in both humans and animals.

Atrophy in the lymphoid organs in malnourished people is caused by increased levels of cortisol as well as by protein and vitamin deficiency. The reduction in the thymus and the lymphoid tissue size and the reduction in the function of the immune system of malnourished children and animals were reversed after proper feeding. For example, the size of the thymus increased from 20% of normal in a malnourished child to 107% of normal following 9 weeks of proper feeding. The reversal in the reduction of CD4+ T-cell count in HIV+ pregnant women following proper feeding was also reported by Fawzi et al., (1998). Briefly, the influence of diet on T-cell counts in peripheral blood was studied in 1075 HIV-infected pregnant women who had poor nutritional status. The CD4+ T-cell counts of the women who received multivitamins increased from 424/L to 596/L during six months of proper feeding.

Furthermore, the large study of Fawzi et al., 1998, clearly demonstrated that HIV is not implicated, and the impairment of the immune system in a mother (HIV-positive) who suffers from malnutrition can be reversed by feeding the mother proper nutrition. This treatment also improved the outcome of pregnancy.