Condoms unfortunately still have a bright future ahead of them. A study relayed by AFP and the daily 20 minutes shows that microbicidal gels neutralize the AIDS virus well, but only in test tubes. In the vagina of women, these gels, which are supposed to protect against sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, lose all their effectiveness.
The results of the work published in the journal Science Translational Medicine highlight the failure of this prevention tool. In fact, “the authors determined that sperm increased HIV infectivity through fibrillar proteins in sperm that allow the virus to clump together and increase its ability to attach to and infect immune cells. . This effect is sufficient to intensify the infectivity of the HIV virus and reduce the antiviral properties of microbicides, these scientists believe,” reports 20 Minutes. Concretely, scientists have found that not only cells in the presence of sperm have ten times higher rates of HIV infection than normal, but also that microbicidal gels are up to 20 times less effective in blocking the virus in cells only when they are not in the presence of sperm.
Only one microbicide stands out: Maraviroc. This HIV entry inhibitor targets cell receptors that prevent “locking the virus from the inside”.
These results are all the more important as the issue of microbicidal gels is major. They are particularly aimed at women in developing countries for whom condoms are not an option. These women who, as the WHO says, “cannot decide when, with whom and with what protection they have sex”. “What women need most right now – you could even say what the world needs most right now in relation to HIV/AIDS – is a prevention technique that they can control” , adds the WHO. Today’s microbicidal gels are therefore not the tool sought. It now remains to develop new microbicides, on the model of Maraviroc.
But, as the WHO points out, microbicides are not considered likely to generate profits since the essential market is poor women…
