Important note: Information in this article was accurate in March 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.AIDSWEEKLY Plus; Monday, March 27, 2000
Prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports
"These findings could have implications for the sexual transmission of HIV-1," G. Liuzzi and colleagues from the University of Naples wrote ("A combination of nucleoside analogues and a protease inhibitor reduces HIV-1 RNA levels in semen: implications for sexual transmission of HIV infection," Antivir Ther 1999;4(2):95-9.
Direct contact with semen is the primary means of HIV transmission by partners of seropositive men. In this study, Liuzzi et al. showed that concentrations of HIV-1 RNA molecules in plasma and semen of seropositive men were affected by the type of antiretroviral treatment administered as well as the duration of treatment.
Liuzzi's team found that at one, three, and six months after starting zidovudine treatment, mean HIV-1 load was reduced in plasma by 0.57, 0.38, and 0.21 log10 and in semen by 0.66, 0.50, and 0.15 log10, respectively. Patients who had been treated with zidovudine plus didanosine had a mean decrease in plasma HIV-1 RNA of 1.40, 1.25, and 1.12 log10 and in semen, 1.10, 1.41 and 1.32 log10, respectively, at the same time points.
Monthly measurement of HIV-1 load in each of the first four months of combined treatment with a protease inhibitor plus two nucleoside analogues resulted in a mean log10 decrease of 1.77, 1.83, 1.71, and 2.38 log10 in plasma and 1.17, 1.74, 2.19, and 3.02 log10 in semen, respectively, the researchers reported.
Thus, Liuzzi et al. concluded: "Treatment with a combination of a protease inhibitor and two nucleoside analogues caused a dramatic decrease in cell-free HIV-1 RNA in semen, which is a reliable measure of viral load."
The corresponding author for this study is G. Liuzzi, Istituto Malattie Infettive, Universita di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Key points reported in this study are:
This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.
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