A role for mucosal immunity in resistance to HIV infection

In a recent, thought-provoking novel by Elizabeth McCracken (The Giant's Ho use. Avon Books, New York, 1997), two characters discuss love and its impos sibilities. One brashly claims to be "immune to love", explaining the conce pt to his perplexed interlocutor, "...people become immune to love like the y become immune to any disease. Either they had it bad early in life, like chicken pox and that's that; or they keep getting exposed to it in little d oses and build up an immunity; or somehow they just don't catch it, somethi ng in'em is born resistant. I'm the last type. I'm immune to love and poiso n ivy" (p. 275) (E. McCracken, The Giant's House. Avon Books, New York, 199 7). Substitute the words 'HIV infection' for 'love' and this intriguing met aphor summarizes the state of the art working hypotheses for the phenomenon of resistance to HIV infection in HIV-exposed individuals who, against all odds, do not seroconvert. These hypotheses will be discussed hereafter and particular emphasis will be placed upon a possible role for mucosal immuni ty in this phenomenon. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.