An antiretroviral/zinc combination gel provides 24 hours of complete protection against vaginal SHIV infection in macaques.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Repeated use, coitus-independent microbicide gels that do not contain antiretroviral agents also used as first line HIV therapy are urgently needed to curb HIV spread. Current formulations require high doses (millimolar range) of antiretroviral drugs and typically only provide short-term protection in macaques. We used the macaque model to test the efficacy of a novel combination microbicide gel containing zinc acetate and micromolar doses of the novel non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor MIV-150 for up to 24 h after repeated gel application.

Methods and findings

Rhesus macaques were vaginally challenged with SHIV-RT up to 24 h after repeated administration of microbicide versus placebo gels. Infection status was determined by measuring virologic and imm

SUBMITTER: Kenney J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3016413 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature