Category: Transmission
-
The research group of Francis Plummer at the University of Manitoba was among the first to document evidence that some people can resist HIV infection despite multiple exposures. The evidence derives from a cohort of female sex workers in the Pumwani district of Nairobi; around 10% of the more than 1,000 women in the cohort have…
-
One of the most difficult questions to address regarding HIV transmission is whether virus floating free in plasma (cell-free virus) or contained inside cells (cell-associated virus) plays the primary role in causing infection. The issue has important ramifications for the design of biomedical prevention interventions, because cell-associated HIV may be less susceptible to some approaches…
-
A study just published in the Journal of Biochemistry has generated a great deal of press coverage because it reports that a compound derived from bananas can inhibit HIV in a lab dish. The substance, a banana lectin known as BanLec, was first discovered twenty years ago and shown to be a potent mitogen (a…
-
An important goal of animal model studies is to recapitulate HIV infection in humans as closely as possible. For researchers working on strategies to prevent transmission, the priority is to mimic the efficiency of virus transfer across different mucosal surfaces. A study just published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases reports that in macaques, an…
-
The levels and distribution of an anti-HIV microbicide in the genital tract are likely to be critical factors in determining potential efficacy. Up until now, research studies have typically assessed microbicide levels in sexually abstinent women, which neglects to consider the potential impact of sexual activity. A new study in PLoS One looks at whether…
-
Earlier this year at the Conference on Retroviruses & Opportunistic Infections, Salim Abdool Karim presented data suggesting that a vaginally applied microbicide gel called PRO 2000 might offer some protection against HIV infection in high-risk women. The results were not statistically significant but represented a strong trend, and the suggested effect was a slight 30% reduction…
-
In a recent post on the Merck vaccine trial, I mentioned a new study from Larry Corey’s research group addressing the relationship between HSV-2 infection and enhanced susceptibility to HIV. The data were presented by Dr. Corey at the Keystone conference in March and were published online by Nature Medicine yesterday. The background to the…
-
Two papers in the current Journal of Experimental Medicine offer unprecedented insight into the initial interactions between virus and host after HIV infection. An accompanying commentary by Zabrina Brumme and Bruce Walker eloquently articulates what these studies have achieved: “By identifying persons before seroconversion, pinpointing the transmitted virus, and assessing immune responses to that particular…
-
A number of monoclonal antibodies with broad neutralizing activity against HIV have been identified, and given names suggestive of characters from a futuristic George Lucas movie: 2F5, b12, 4E10 and 2G12. Despite their broad activity, macaque experiments in which the antibodies are infused prior to a virus challenge have shown that, in most cases, dauntingly…