A Better Vaginal Microbicide Against HIV?

Clinical trials of microbicides that act against HIV have been disappointing. A multi-institutional team studied primates with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) to better understand how HIV establishes a beachhead in vaginal tissue and then spreads systemically. In endocervical cells, they found that a signaling pathway, which included the molecule MIP-3α, was important in establishing infection and in calling CD4⁺ T cells to battle. The CD4⁺ cells then became infected, which led to systemic spread of the virus.

The team found that the compound glycerol monolaurate interfered with the MIP-3α signaling pathway and inhibited the inflammatory response that recruited CD4⁺ cells. A pilot study in two animals showed that daily application of the…