Microbicides

Microbicides features

• Low levels of innate immune activation and high levels of gut antibodies may protect people from HIV

  Several research papers published in the last month have reported strong correlations between specific immune responses and protection against HIV infection or its effects. These include...

  From:  News

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  What kind of prevention do gay men need?

  A number of presentations at the 19th International AIDS Conference explored the 'hyperepidemic' of HIV amongst men who have sex with men, and especially black MSM. A paper...

  From:  News

• 

  Are lubricants safe?

  The ‘lubes’ used most often in sex may actually make HIV transmission more likely. Gus Cairns explores some unnerving new findings from the 2010 International Microbicides Conference. ...

  From:  HIV treatment update

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  The perils of success: what if the new prevention methods work?

  A debate1 at the International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference in Cape Town in July, sponsored by the IAS and the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC) looked at...

  From:  HIV treatment update

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  Microbicides and the trouble with good news

  As we report in this issue, the 16th Retrovirus (CROI) Conference in Montreal featured the first ever non-negative result in a trial of a microbicide. We say ‘non-negative’...

  From:  HIV treatment update

Microbicides news from aidsmap

• Monthly injectable drug offers 100% protection against HIV in monkeys – could be dosed every three months

  An injectable, long-lasting integrase inhibitor drug, when given to rhesus macaques exposed to a monkey-adapted version of HIV, completely protected them against the virus. This drug, an injectable version of GSK1265744 (GSK744), has already been given as a single dose ...

  04 March 2013 | Gus Cairns

• VOICE trial's disappointing result poses big questions for PrEP

  The failure of one of the largest trials yet conducted of HIV drug-based prevention methods poses questions for how to turn vaginal microbicides and oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) into methods people can actually use, the 20th Conference on Retroviruses ...

  04 March 2013 | Gus Cairns

• Some sexual lubricants damage cells – but may not increase HIV risk

  An evaluation of 13 sexual lubricants has found that, while many are toxic to the cells that line the vagina and rectum, this does not lead to an increased rate of HIV infection – at least in test-tube experiments. ...

  09 November 2012 | Gus Cairns

• Grindr smartphone app could be a good way to recruit gay men to HIV prevention studies

  Gay men can be effectively and efficiently recruited to HIV prevention studies using the Grindr smartphone app, investigators from Los Angeles report in AIDS and Behavior. Grindr was especially useful at reaching younger, more educated gay men who had a ...

  25 September 2012 | Michael Carter

• Low levels of innate immune activation and high levels of gut antibodies may protect people from HIV

  Several research papers published in the last month have reported strong correlations between specific immune responses and protection against HIV infection or its effects. These include a comparison of women in the CAPRISA 004 microbicide trial who became infected and ...

  24 August 2012 | Gus Cairns

• What kind of prevention do gay men need?

  A number of presentations at the 19th International AIDS Conference explored the 'hyperepidemic' of HIV amongst men who have sex with men, and especially black MSM. A paper presented by Gregorio Millet showed that, at least in the USA, ...

  06 August 2012 | Gus Cairns

• The road to PrEP: trials, regulation and roll-out

  Within the next three years, up to 33,000 people may take part in 22 different studies worldwide to demonstrate the feasibility, or otherwise, of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV, the IAPAC evidence summit, Controlling the HIV epidemic ...

  25 June 2012 | Gus Cairns

• Douching does not seem to increase STI risk

  Neither rectal douching nor vaginal washing appears to be as significantly associated with sexually transmitted infections or other microbial conditions that increase the risk of HIV, as had been feared, the International Microbicides Conference heard yesterday. In the case of ...

  18 April 2012 | Gus Cairns

• Tenofovir rectal microbicide safe; may have direct effect on tissues as well as virus

  A gel containing 1% tenofovir formulated specifically for rectal use was much better tolerated than gels used in previous rectal microbicide trials when used in a safety study in 65 HIV-negative men and women, the 19th Conference on Retroviruses ...

  07 March 2012 | Gus Cairns

• Hormonal contraception and HIV risk: no increased risk in South African cohort

  During a study of 5567 South African women, looking at the effect of hormonal contraception on HIV acquisition, 270 women became HIV-infected. The researchers report that use of hormonal contraception did not increase the risk, overall, of ...

  26 January 2012 | Carole Leach-Lemens

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Microbicides news selected from other sources

• Testing HIV Prevention Tools: Other Ways Up the Alley

  We need to design prevention trials that ask, “Is this test product better than nothing?” rather than, “Is this test product better than the best available prevention combination we have?”

  15 March 2013 | Poz

• Mitchell Warren: Listening to Women's Voices on HIV Prevention

  The VOICE trial results show that we still have a lot to learn about what women really want and need in HIV prevention. The women in the trial are telling us something that is true for every group at risk for HIV: to help more people avoid infection, we need to offer prevention tools they will actually want, demand and use.

  12 March 2013 | Huffington Post

• Bee Venom Destroys HIV And Spares Surrounding Cells

  Nanoparticles containing bee venom toxin melittin can destroy human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) while at the same time leaving surrounding cells unharmed, scientists from Washington University School of Medicine reported in the March 2013 issue of Antiviral Therapy.

  10 March 2013 | HIV / AIDS News From Medical News Today

• CROI 2013: The VOICE Results—A Social Scientist’s Perspective

  To social scientist Judith D. Auerbach, PhD, a consultant to the NIH Office of AIDS Research and San Francisco AIDS Foundation, the VOICE results raise a number of questions—but not the ones you might think.

  06 March 2013 | BETA blog

• After VOICE trial, question remains: What were women telling researchers?

  The results were disappointing in every way: the products evaluated were not shown to be effective, the adherence to using the products was dismal – and cancelling the possibility of learning if the products conferred any protection, it was worst among the demographic at highest risk — the younger, unmarried women.

  05 March 2013 | Science Speaks

• Statements on the VOICE results

  Comments on the disappointing vaginal microbicide and PrEP results from AVAC, the Gates Foundation, the NIH, and others.

  05 March 2013 | AVAC

• Rectal microbicide research takes giant leap forward with groundbreaking educational video

  In advance of the first-ever phase II trial of a rectal microbicide, IRMA, the Population Council and the Microbicides Trials Network release "The Rectal Revolution Is Here: An Introduction to Rectal Microbicide Clinical Trials". The jointly produced video, the first of its kind, is designed to educate communities affected by HIV about rectal microbicide development and the importance of participating in clinical trials to help speed the search for new HIV prevention options.

  19 December 2012 | IRMA - International Rectal Microbicide Advocates

• Electrically spun fabric offers dual defense against pregnancy, HIV

  A University of Washington team has developed a versatile platform to simultaneously offer contraception and prevent HIV. Electrically spun cloth with nanometer-sized fibers can dissolve to release drugs, providing a platform for cheap, discrete and reversible protection.

  10 December 2012 | University of Washington press release

• Guidance for Industry: Vaginal Microbicides: Development for the Prevention of HIV Infection

  This guidance addresses the FDA’s current thinking regarding the overall development program and clinical trial designs to support the development of vaginal microbicide drug products.

  27 November 2012 | US Food and Drug Administration

• Salim S Abdool Karim: perseverance pays off

  Profile of the leading South African HIV researcher.

  19 October 2012 | The Lancet

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