Enteric coating product inactivates HIV
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Jul 20 (Reuters) -- A polymer used as an enteric coating on pills could offer a new avenue for preventing transmission of HIV, researchers said on Monday.
They said the ingredient, cellulose acetate phthalate, kills not only HIV but also herpes virus and several types of bacteria that cause sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Formulated into a cream, it has no serious side effects, according to Dr. Robert Neurath, head of the Laboratory of Biochemical Virology at the New York Blood Center.
The polymer is classified as an inert substance.
''We looked for something inexpensive, widely available, with possible broad activity,'' Neurath said in a telephone interview. ''We also suspected that other people probably never actually screened what are called inactive ingredients for activity, so we thought we would be the only ones doing it.'' They tested several hundred such compounds and finally they came upon cellulose acetate phthalate.
Writing in the British journal Biologicals, published by the International Association of Biological Standardisation, they report that they formulated a cream containing the compound. In studies in mice, the cream killed viruses and bacteria that cause sexually transmitted diseases, but did not kill bacteria such as lactobacilli found normally in the vagina.
Neurath's team assumes that it will inactivate sperm, although they did not test this.
Other researchers are racing to get topical microbicides to market. One such product is PRO 2000, a naphthalene sulfonate polymer being developed by Procept Inc. (Nasdaq:PRCT - news) Another is a high molecular weight cellulose sulfate known as Ushercell, which Polydex Pharmaceuticals is studying.
Neurath's team is working with the National Cancer Institute and other groups to develop the cellulose acetate phthalate cream. |
