New vaginal gel- A ray of hope in AIDS treatment

Minneapolis, Minnesota, March 5: Researchers at the University of Minnesota have claimed to have found a novel way to curb the spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS, a debilitating and deadly disease of the human immune system.

The researchers said they have identified a cheap, commonly-used natural compound that helps block transmission of HIV when applied vaginally.

In a lab test, conducted on five female monkeys, a new vaginal gel containing the antimicrobial compound glycerol monolaurate (GML) shielded animals from a lethal cousin of HIV.

Glycerol monolaurate (GML) is a naturally occurring surfactant that is widely used in the food industry and in cosmetics as a preservative and emulsifier. At higher concentrations, it inhibits the growth of potentially pathogenic bacteria.

GML is already approved by the FDA for human use. In previous studies, this antibacterial agent has been found to kill several types of germs including vaginal yeast infections. Now, Minnesota researchers claim that a gel with anti-HIV ingredient GML can prevent sexual transmission of the AIDS.

In the lab test, researchers combined GML with a common vaginal lubricant and applied it vaginally to the female monkeys infected with SIV, the primate version of the HIV, and compared them to five other SIV-infected monkeys that got the gel without GML.

Over the next two weeks, five monkeys that got the gel without GML contracted AIDS, while the other five treated with GML showed no sign of infection during the short-term study, although one of the five animals contracted HIV several months later.

"The results are very encouraging. They point to a novel avenue to prevent sexual transmission of HIV," said study researcher Ashley T. Haase, MD, head of the microbiology department at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

"We thought if we could modulate the immune response at the portal of HIV entry, we could block sexual transmission," Haase added. "[Colleague] Patrick Schlievert's work with GML showed that it had many properties that might block HIV expansion and systematic spread."

Haase and Schlievert are confident the vaginal gel with GML could help fight the global pandemic, HIV AIDS.

Although, the vaginal gel successfully curbed the spread of virus in monkeys, it’s still not ready for human use, researchers warned. However, they hope to eventually develop a preventative gel for both women and men.

Haase’s team reported their findings in the March 4 online edition of the journal Nature.