Sunday, 16 September 2012

Put a Ring In It

The Population Council recently announced successful primate tests of a vaginal ring that could be used to prevent heterosexual transmission of HIV. The scientists found that, in monkeys, the ring was very effective at preventing the transmission of SHIV - as long as the ring remained in place during the exposure. SHIV is a combination of HIV and the simian immunodeficiency virus.

The tested vaginal ring contained a microbicide known as MIV-150. MIV-150 was a promising microbicide that had initially been tested for oral delivery. However trials stopped when scientists discovered that not enough of the drug got into the bloodstream to provide users with protection. This recent trial suggests that using a ring for vaginal delivery may be a great way to get around that problem. The ring delivers the microbicide to exactly where it needs to be to prevent HIV transmission during heterosexual sex.

Don't look for the ring to hit the shelves any time soon. It's still early days yet. The ring would have to go through substantial human testing before it could be used as an HIV preventative. However, these results are quite promising. If things continue to go well, sometime in the next decade, women might be able to protect themselves from sexual transmission of HIV as easily as they can protect themselves from pregnancy. If a combined ring were to be developed, one which also contained contraceptives, they might even be able to do both at one time. Right now, the only other way to do that is to use a condom.



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Source: http://std.about.com/b/2012/09/12/put-a-ring-in-it.htm

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