Semen enhances HIV infectivity and impairs the antiviral efficacy of microbicides.

ABSTRACT: Topically applied microbicides potently inhibit HIV in vitro but have largely failed to exert protective effects in clinical trials. One possible reason for this discrepancy is that the preclinical testing of microbicides does not faithfully reflect the conditions of HIV sexual transmission. We report that candidate microbicides that target HIV components show greatly reduced antiviral efficacy in the presence of semen, the main vector for HIV transmission. This diminished antiviral activity was dependent on the ability of amyloid fibrils in semen to enhance the infectivity of HIV. Thus, the anti-HIV efficacy of microbicides determined in the absence of semen greatly underestimated the drug concentrations needed to block semen-exposed virus. One notable exception was maraviroc. This HIV en

SUBMITTER: Zirafi O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4372245 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature