After discovering that silver nanoparticles are capable of blocking the entry of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) into the organism, a group of researchers from the University of Texas, in collaboration with Humberto Lara Villegas, a specialist in nanoparticles and virology from the University of Monterrey, Mexico (UDEM), have created a vaginal cream to control the transmission of the virus.
Lara Villegas explained that HIV enters immune cells (CD4) of the organism with the aid of a protein known as GP120, which allows the virus adherence to the cells. This same principle is used by silver nanoparticles to attach themselves to this protein and block it, turning the virus inactive.
The Mexican researcher says the cream has been tested in samples of human tissue and has proven the efficiency of silver nanoparticles to avoid the transmission of the virus through the cervical mucous membrane.
Lara Villegas, who has worked in Israel and the US, says the cream starts to work in less than a minute after application, and offers effective protection for up to 72 hours.
Given that the function of this product is the inactivation of the virus, although this is a vaginal cream, it will also protect the sexual partner.
The cream has been enriched with an anti-inflammatory property
'Normally, the medication used against the virus acts within the cell to avoid its replication,' he said. 'This is a very different case, given that the nanoparticle goes directly against the HIV and no longer allows its entry to the cell.'
So far, no toxicity of the silver nanoparticles has been reported, although he added that research is yet to be performed to evaluate any possible side-effects of silver properties.
He revealed that the use of gels is usually accompanied by irritation, which favours the entry of the virus, which is why the cream was enriched with an anti-inflammatory property.
The researchers will now proceed to perform experiments in mice that accept human cells, and later begin with human clinical trials.
Lara Villegas added that the cream could prevent the transmission of other sexually acquired viruses such as the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). Likewise, he considered that silver nanoparticles could be used to combat bacteria transmitted the same way.
His research team is working on a diagnosis kit that predicts within hours, through blood tests, the resistance of a seropositive person to antiretroviral treatment, which will help doctors to prescribe the most adequate treatment.
