Selenium And HIV Epidemiology

The HIV pandemic has continued to spread especially in sub Sahara Africa, while Multi drug resistance HIV has emerged rendering the current conventional treatment of HIV ineffective. There is a need for new treatment regime which is cheap, effective and not prone to resistance development by HIV. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) activates Nuclear Factor kappa B this stimulates Tissue Necrosis Factor (TNF) receptors, which activates the cytokine system including Apoptosis Signaling Kinase. In absence of seleno-enzyme GSHpx this process leads to apoptosis of CD4 T cells in Selenium Deficient HIV positive patients. The study looks at the effect of increased selenium intake by HIV patients. This study targets HIV clinicians, medical students, community health practitioners working with HIV/AIDS patients and Health Policy Makers.