How does HIV reduce immune function?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Answer is HIV infects and kills helper T-cells. These cells are central to a proper adaptive immune response. Helper T cells are the component of adaptive immunity that is stimulated by antigen presenting cells during an infection. Once activated, helper T-cells can activate cytotoxic T-cells to initiate a cell mediated response and B cells to initiate a humoral response. Over time, an HIV infection can result in a greatly reduced number of helper T cells. Consequently, although healthy populations of cytotoxic T-cells and B-cells remain, without enough helper T-cells they cannot be activated properly, and both cell mediated and humoral responses decline, opening the door to the opportunistic infections that are characteristic of advanced AIDS.

How Does HIV Reduce Immune Function