Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-Blood Interactions: Surface Thermodynamics Approach.

Sequel to the earlier works by Omenyi et al which established the role of surface thermodynamics in various biological processes from the electrostatic repulsion and van der Waals attraction mechanisms, HIV-blood interactions were modeled. This involved the use of the Hamaker coefficient approach as a thermodynamic tool in determining the interaction processes. It therefore became necessary to apply the Lifshitz derivation for van der Waals forces as an alternative to the contact angle approach which has been widely used in other biological systems. The methodology involved taking blood samples from HIV-infected and uninfected persons for absorbance measurement using Ultraviolet Visible Spectrophotometer. From the absorbance data various variables required for computations with the Lifshitz formula were derived. The Hamaker constants A₁₁, A₂₂, A₃₃ and the combined Hamaker coefficients A₁₃₂ were obtained using the values of the dielectric constant together with the Lifshitz equation. The absolute combined Hamaker coefficient, A_132abs for the infected blood samples gave the value of 0.2587x10^-21 Joule. The positive sense of this value implies net positive van der Waals forces indicating an attraction between the virus and the lymphocyte. A lower value of A_131abs = 0.1026x10^-21 Joule obtained for the uninfected blood samples is also an indicator that a zero or negative absolute combined Hamaker coefficient is attainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]