Oestrogen cream to thwart HIV

Michael Davis | June 05, 2008

RESEARCHERS at the University of Melbourne have discovered a potential new weapon in the fight against AIDS in developing countries, an oestrogen-rich cream that is claimed to prevent the spread of HIV through uncircumcised penises.

To lower the risk of infection, sexually active men would regularly apply the ointment, giving themselves a second line of defence against the virus in addition to condoms.

The cream, which is entering its clinical stage, has the potential to drastically curb the HIV rate in sub-Saharan Africa and India, where many men are not circumcised and stand a greater risk of being infected with the virus. Circumcision is thought to help protect against HIV because cells under the foreskin are vulnerable to the virus.

The next trial is likely to be conducted on a group of foreign miners in South Africa, where up to four workers per mine each week have to be repatriated after contracting HIV.

The results of the study were published yesterday in the US online science journal PLoS One. The study found that the application of oestrogen to the penis increased the thickness of the keratin layer on the skin, which acts as a barrier to HIV.

Andrew Pask, from the university's department of zoology, made the discovery after analysing tissue samples from 12 foreskins.

"This suggested that oestrogen could induce a thickening of the keratin layer of the foreskin epidermis in the same way as it acts in the vagina," he said.