Pathogenesis of AIDS — What is the primary reason AIDS is a deadly disease?

Difficulty: Easy

It is caused by a virus, which is inherently lethal in all cases
It is caused by a bacterium that resists all antibiotics
It destroys key components of the body’s internal defense system (notably CD4 T cells), leading to immunodeficiency
It primarily causes a breakdown of the acute inflammatory response only
It inactivates complement but leaves cellular immunity intact

Correct Answer: It destroys key components of the body’s internal defense system (notably CD4 T cells), leading to immunodeficiency

Explanation:

Introduction:
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) arises from chronic HIV infection culminating in profound immune dysfunction. The lethality of AIDS is linked to opportunistic infections and malignancies that flourish when adaptive immunity is compromised, not merely to the fact that a virus is present.

Given Data / Assumptions:

HIV targets CD4 T cells and myeloid lineage cells.
Loss of CD4 help cripples both cellular and humoral arms.
Opportunistic infections and certain cancers define AIDS.

Concept / Approach:
Identify the mechanistic cause of mortality: immune collapse. The disease’s severity stems from the destruction of immune coordination, leaving patients vulnerable to pathogens and tumors normally controlled by intact immunity.

Step-by-Step Solution:

1) HIV infection reduces CD4 T-cell counts over time.2) With diminished CD4 help, B-cell class switching and CD8 responses are impaired.3) The host fails to contain opportunists (e.g., Pneumocystis, CMV) and oncogenic processes (e.g., Kaposi sarcoma).

Verification / Alternative check:
Effective antiretroviral therapy halts CD4 decline, reduces opportunistic disease, and lowers mortality, directly tying immune restoration to improved outcomes.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

a) Viral causation alone does not explain lethality without immune destruction.b) AIDS is not bacterial.d,e) Oversimplify or misstate the spectrum of immune defects in AIDS.

Common Pitfalls:
Believing AIDS kills by direct viral cytolysis alone; the critical factor is systemic immune failure.

Final Answer:
Destruction of key immune components, especially CD4 T cells, causing immunodeficiency.

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Pathogenesis of AIDS — What is the primary reason AIDS is a deadly disease?

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