爱滋病从一开始就被说成是T细胞的疾病。因为我们发现在爱滋病病人体内这些免疫系统细胞最终大部分被破坏了,体内自然防线的崩溃就是患病的标志。所以多数研究者自然地假定T细胞是爱滋病毒的主要攻击目标。但是这种设想还有一些疑问。首先,要真正在病人的T细胞内找到爱滋病毒是很困难的,其次,至今还不清楚,如果爱滋病仅是免疫系统的疾病的话,为什么有那么多的病人产生神经系统症状。过去的一年,随着人们设想的某些转移,关于爱滋病新设想的情景也就出现了,这可能有助于回答这些问题。在新的设想中,爱滋病毒具有另一个主要攻击目标:巨噬细胞或称免疫系统的清除细胞。 AIDS was said to be a T-cell disease from the very beginning. Because we find that most of these immune system cells in AIDS patients eventually become destroyed, the collapse of the body’s natural defenses is a sign of illness. So most researchers naturally assume that T cells are the main target of HIV. However, there are still some doubts about this idea. First, it is very difficult to truly find HIV in the patient’s T cells. Second, it is unclear to date why so many patients develop neurological symptoms if AIDS is only a disease of the immune system. The past year, with some of the shifts people have envisioned, has emerged about the new vision of AIDS, which may help answer these questions. In the new idea, the AIDS virus has another major target of attack: the clearance of macrophages or immune cells.