Pharmacological protection against HIV infection
A device has been created to protect women from the immunodeficiency virus
ABC MagazineIt is often said that the AIDS epidemic has a female face.
The proportion of women infected with HIV has increased over the past decade and reached 60%. Prevention measures here leave much to be desired, especially if we consider the possibilities of drug provision in developing countries.
Professor Patrick Kiser from the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois (Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University Evanston, IL) and colleagues believe that a vaginal ring with an antiretroviral drug can help. The ring they developed recently showed 100% effectiveness in protecting macaques from the monkey immunodeficiency virus. The first human trials will begin soon.
Previous studies have shown that antiretroviral drugs can be used for prevention, but existing methods of drug delivery to the body are ineffective: high doses of tablet drugs should be taken twice a day. Vaginal gels need to be applied every time before sexual intercourse, as a result, this type of protection is also not popular. The ring, designed by Kiser and colleagues, is easy to insert and lasts 30 days. Since it is directly delivered to the intended place of transmission of the virus, large doses of the active substance are not required. It is important to note that approximately 3.5 million people are currently being treated with tenofovir, but it has not yet been applied topically.
The strength of the development is the special structure of the polymer: it changes volume depending on humidity and is able to provide stable amounts of medication for a long time. The authors suggest that in the future it will be possible to add other drugs to the ring, for example, contraceptives, in order to increase its attractiveness for use. The first clinical trial starts in November and plans to recruit 60 participants. During this study, the ring will be injected for 14 days and scientists will investigate the release of active substances in the human body and tolerability.
The article by James M. Smith Intravaginal ring eluting tenofovir disoproxil fumarate completely protects macaques from multiple vaginal simian-HIV challenges is published in the journal PNAS.
For a popular summary of the work, see the Northwestern University press release.
(Study: New Medical Device Extremely Effective at Preventing Immunodeficiency Virus) – VM.
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