AEGiS-GMHC: TREATMENT BRIEFS: "Sperm Cleaners"

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1993. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

TREATMENT BRIEFS: "Sperm Cleaners"

Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 7 no. 5 - May, 1993
David Gold

Researchers at the University of Milan Medical School report in The Lancet a system to "clean" sperm of HIV. Their study offers hope to HIV discordant couples who want to conceive. 29 HIV-negative women were inseminated with "cleaned" semen from their HIV- positive partners. HIV is separated from the semen by spinning the semen in a centrifuge. This process spins the fluid and separates it into distinct particles. The uninfected sperm were then incubated, washed, and inseminated into the women. The researchers report that seventeen women became pregnant and ten babies have been followed. All are HIV seronegative and healthy; the oldest child is now three years old. The researchers also report that none of the 29 women became HIV-infected after six months. Eighteen women are confirmed HIV-negative after eighteen months. Despite this report, it should be noted that since 1988, the US Centers for Disease Control has recommended against insemination from HIV-positive men. Additionally, there are reports of women becoming infected after insemination with HIV-infected semen, including one woman who claims to have undergone a procedure similar to that used in Milan (see MMWR 1990; 39:249). A final note: Reports in The Lancet are not peer-reviewed and often must be viewed skeptically.

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