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closeImplications for sperm washing?
Posted by Montaner on 19 Dec 2011 at 03:27 GMT
Can authors comment whether they expect that current "sperm washing" protocols to foster safe HIV-free insemination techniques under-estimate risk or whether while detected in sperm the replication capacity of this signal is void in a developing fetus in vivo?
From WHO site on sperm washing (http://www.euro.who.int/e...): "In 914 serodiscordant couples treated with semen washing, 1680 cycles of ART were performed (72.7% by assisted insemination and the remainder by in vitro fertilization). The studies did not report any HIV infections in the women using ART or in the resulting children."
Therefore, there appears to be no corresponding evidence in vivo that sperm carrying HIV-1 can result in productive infection?
Thanks,
Luis Montaner
The Wistar Institute
Philadelphia, PA
RE: Implications for sperm washing?
thhuang replied to Montaner on 21 Dec 2011 at 06:45 GMT
Dear Dr. Montaner:
Thank you very much for your comment.
Sperm washing can decrease the rate of HIV infection of fetus through removing the HIV-1 presented in seminal fluid or attached to the surface of sperm from HIV/AIDS patients. But I do not think sperm washing can remove the HIV-1 that has entered sperm or integrated into sperm genome.
Although we confirmed the possibility of father to child vertical transmission of HIV-1 genes via patient’s sperm, the rate should be very low due to the following reasons: first, it is not for all the patients that HIV-1 has entered sperm and integrated into sperm genome. Next, in the same patient, entering and integrating issues do not occur in all the sperm and occurred just in a few sperm. Thus the chance of fertilization by HIV-bearing sperm is also very low and it is not easy to find the case with productive infection. However, “undetected” is not equal to “no”. At present, nobody assesses such entering and integrating issues in fetus tissues clinically. Our work is just a preliminary work for new transmission route of HIV-1 via germ line. It would become clear when more people participate in the basic and clinical research in this area.
Best wishes.
TH Huang