Gel Condom to Empower Women

In a new study, researchers report promising results from tests of a gel that might act as a "molecular condom" to protect women against HIV.

So far, Patrick Kiser of the University of Utah-Salt Lake City and colleagues have only tested the gel in the laboratory. Kiser said the goal of the research was "to develop technologies that can enable women to protect themselves against HIV without the approval of their partner."

In lab tests, the gel remains liquid so long as it is in contact with the vagina's normal acidity. In the presence of semen, which is slightly alkaline, the gel solidifies. It traps any particles wider than 50 nanometers, which includes sperm, HIV, and other viruses such as human papillomavirus and herpes. The scientists stained HIV particles with a fluorescent dye to show that the gel-turned-solid had indeed trapped the virus.

Kiser said further research will explore increasing the gel's efficacy by adding an HIV drug to destroy the trapped virus before the gel is washed from the vagina.

Kiser said clinical trials are likely three to five years away.

The full report, "Modulation of Viscoelasticity and HIV Transport as a Function of pH in a Reversibly Crosslinked Hydrogel," was published in Advanced Functional Materials (2009;doi:10.1002/adfm.200900757).

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