Researchers develop an implant for women that could protect against HIV

The University of Waterloo in Canada has developed an implant for women that could protect against HIV and is also capable of significantly reducing the number of T cells—the cells the virus typically attacks in women's reproductive areas.

According to Emmanuel Ho, a professor at the Waterloo School of Pharmacy, some medications taken orally never reach the infected area, so this implant could provide a more effective way for T cells to stop responding to infections and more safely prevent transmission.

The study was published in the Journal of Controlled Release on March 13, 2018. This innovative implant uses a particularly clever strategy. When HIV enters a new organism, it primarily targets immune system cells, particularly the T cells that are sent to fight the invading virus.

The publication also explains that lymphocytes are mobilized to confront it; HIV infects them, allowing it to reproduce. This is the beginning of the infection process. But if T cells don't react to the arrival of the human immunodeficiency virus, if they remain silent and don't confront it, the number of cells that the HIV virus can infect is reduced.

Inside, the implant is loaded with hydroxychloroquine, which seeps through the pores of the tube and is absorbed locally. Early animal trials have been quite positive, but there is still a long way to go before this prevention method can work in humans.

La Verdad, April 23, 2019