Microbicide News
2009 News
AFRICA:
"AIDS Virus Prevention Gel Fails in African Trials"
Reuters , (12.14.2009)
The largest trial to date of an experimental vaginal microbicide to prevent HIV
infection has concluded with no evidence that the once-promising product works,
researchers said on Monday. Earlier results presented in February at the
Montreal AIDS conference had suggested PRO 2000 could cut HIV transmission by
one-third.
The latest Phase III trial evaluating PRO 2000 involved 9,385 women in South
Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia and took place between September 2005 and
September 2009. Participants were asked to apply the gel or placebo up to one
hour before sexual intercourse, counseled about sexual risk behaviors, and
encouraged to use condoms, which were provided free.
The risk of HIV infection in women using PRO 2000 was not significantly
different than the infection risk among placebo users, researchers discovered.
“This result is disheartening, particularly in light of the results of a smaller
trial sponsored by the US National Institutes of Health which suggested that PRO
2000 could reduce the risk of HIV infection by 30 percent,” said Sheena
McCormack of the UK’s Medical Research Council, which funded the trial with
Britain’s Department for International Development.
“Nevertheless, we know this is an important result and it shows clearly the need
to undertake trials which are large enough to provide evidence for whether or
not a product works,” McCormack said.
“The trial itself was very well designed and undertaken, so we know that the
results are definitive,” said Jonathan Weber of the Microbicides Development
Program, a non-profit partnership of 16 African and European research
institutions that conducted the trials. “It is unfortunate that this microbicide
is ineffective at preventing HIV infection, but it’s still vital for us as
scientists to continue to look for new ways of preventing HIV.”
Microbicide Under Research For HIV Prevention Examined
http://smtp01.kff.org/t/2243/324924/1574/0/
Green Tea Ingredient Blocks HIV Infection
Green Tea Molecule EGCG May Be the Missing Ingredient for Vaginal
Anti-HIV Gel
WebMD Health News
May 18, 2009 -- Green tea may be the key to effective anti- HIV vaginal gels,
new studies suggest.
http://www.webmd.com/hiv-aids/news/20090518/green-teas-egcg-blocks-hiv-infection?src=RSS_PUBLIC
"University of Central Florida Research Yields Link
that Could Prevent HIV"
Orlando Sentinel , (04.28.2009) Fernando Quintero
A research team led by Alexander Cole of the University of Central Florida has
discovered that using antibiotics to revive a dormant gene produces a protein
that resists HIV.
Working with colleagues at the Department of Medicine at the University of
California-Los Angeles, Cole noted that similar retrocyclin proteins found in
primates appeared to prevent HIV infections in cell cultures. The same gene
found in primates exists in humans but does not produce the protein.
The team applied aminoglycosides, drugs used to treat bacterial infections, to
vaginal tissues and cervical cells, which prompted those cells and tissues to
produce retrocyclins on their own, and these appeared to prevent the
transmission of HIV. “That was our ‘Eureka!’ moment,” said Cole.
“There is a good chance the aminoglycosides antibiotics will be used in a
topical cream as a way to prevent the transmission of HIV from men to women,”
Cole said.
However, Cole cautioned that a peer review, clinical trials, and other work
remain. “This is still a promising find,” he said. “And we will be moving
forward with this - full steam ahead.”
The three-year study, “Reawakening Retrocyclins: Ancestral Human Defenses Active
Against HIV-1,” was published in the online journal Public Library of Science
Biology (2009;7(4):e95 doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000095).
Use of Certain Antibiotics in Topical Cream Could Prevent HIV Transmission,
Study Says
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=58250
Protein Grown in Tobacco Plant Could Result in Low-Cost Microbicide, Study
Says
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=57793
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