Researchers in the U.S have shown that it may be possible to block the transmission of the HIV virus from a man to a woman by using a highly concentrated solution of chemical messengers that attract white blood cells to the site of infection.
"Effective methods for blocking the transmission of HIV are urgently needed," said Michael Lederman, M.D., Scott R. Inkley Professor of Medicine and director of the Case Western Reserve University/University Hospitals of Cleveland Center for AIDS Research, in Cleveland, Ohio, and lead author on the paper. "Our study focuses on a strategy for preventing transmission of HIV through the vagina. We have identified a potential target, a mechanism critical for the transmission at vaginal sites of infection, that may offer a simple strategy for preventing HIV transmission."
"The vast majority of HIV infections in the world are sexually transmitted, most commonly through heterosexual sex," Dr. Lederman said. "But there has been substantial debate as to how the virus actually gets into cells at these sites of transmission, called mucosal sites. HIV can use certain cell surface molecules such as CCR5 to gain entry into immune system cells called CD4. We knew that people with a mutation whose CD4 cells' surface lack CCR5 are almost completely protected from acquiring HIV infection."