This could be a breakthrough | Photo: Flickr/Sage Ross
A new medical study revealed that a common drug — aspirin — may help prevent HIV transmission among women.
The University of Manitoba completed a pilot study understanding aspirin, HIV, and inflammation, and published it in the Journal of the International AIDS Society.
Researchers from the universities of Manitoba, Waterloo, and Nairobi, and the Public Health Agency of Canada, tested aspirin, an anti-inflammatory drug, on HIV target cells. Their subjects were a group of low-risk Kenyan women.
HIV rates among African women are disproportionately high compared to other groups.
According to AVERT, young women in east and southern Africa account for 26% of new HIV infections, despite only making up 10% of the population. In west and central Africa, women accounted for 64% of new HIV infections in 2015.
The virus transmits to people via target cells. Inflammation can bring such active target cells forward to the female genital tract.
Researchers experimented with different anti-inflammatory drugs and found most success with aspirin. When they used aspirin, target cells in the female genital tract fell by 35%.
Helping people on a global scale
‘Further research is needed to confirm our results with Aspirin and test whether this level of target cell reduction will actually prevent HIV infections,’ said Keith R. Fowke, a professor at Manitoba.
‘If so, this could be a strategy for HIV prevention that is not only inexpensive, but easily accessed globally. People living in poverty are disproportionately at risk of acquiring HIV. We need prevention approaches that are affordable and immediately available.’
Medicines like PrEP have been invaluable to the fight and research against HIV. PrEP is one of numerous prevent methods for people who are HIV negative.
H/t: Medical XPress
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