An experimental new HIV gel will reportedly protect women from AIDS, even after they've had sex, a new study finds.
The gel has already been tested on monkeys and researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that it protected female monkeys from getting AIDS, even if applied three hours after the infection enters the body. To measure the effectiveness of the gel, researchers applied it to three monkeys who were exposed to HIV twice a week for seven weeks. By the end, two of the three remained HIV-free, compared with just one out of 10 monkeys in a group that received an inactive placebo gel.
To confirm its findings, the team then tested whether the gel could protect against HIV infection after exposure, using six monkeys exposed to HIV twice a week for two and a half months. By applying the gel three hours after exposure, researchers were able to protect five of the six monkeys from HIV infection. All four monkeys in the placebo group contracted HIV.
The CDC in Atlanta, Georgia, confirmed that the gel is a "proof of concept" in an animal model.
"It's a promising after-sex vaginal gel to prevent HIV infection," Dr Charles Dobard, of the division of HIV/Aids prevention, told BBC News. "Studies still need to be done to look at the window [of opportunity] - is it six, eight, 24 hours?"
As the gel has only been tested on monkeys now, researchers say that there is still a long way to go before the treatment can be used on humans. According to Jason Warriner, clinical director at the OTerrence Higgins Trust, no microbicide has yet been found that offers full protection against HIV. Hence, if the gel proves to be effective on humans, it will be "another small step forward, particularly in countries where high HIV rates and cultural barriers to condom use have created the perfect storm".
"It's really a very interesting leap. If you do want something that would protect against HIV after exposure, then you want a drug that acts later on in the virus' life cycle," said Rowena Johnston, vice president of research for amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, according to WebMD.
The gel contains a 1 percent solution of the anti-HIV drug raltegravir (Isentress), and works by blocking the ability of the virus to integrate its DNA into the DNA of animal cells. It is this DNA integration that leads to HIV infection. However, the infection doesn't take place as soon as the virus enters the body. It takes place typically more than six hours after exposure. Researchers suggested that this window can be used by people to protect themselves after exposure to HIV.
If similar findings are observed in humans, the gel will be a new way for women to protect themselves from HIV infection after intercourse, according to NBC News. Until then, experts suggest large clinical trials would be needed to test any new treatment, and condoms remain the best defense.
According to CDC statistics, 1.1 million Americans suffer from HIV/AIDS and among these, 15.8 percent are unaware of their infection. In the United States, the infection is mainly spread through unprotected sex. Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) remain the population most profoundly affected by HIV.
According to the latest WHO and UNAIDS global estimates, women comprise 50 percent of people living with HIV.
The study was published in the Science Translational Medicine.
