USF to begin clinical trial in HIV prevention

[USFan]

The University of South Florida is one of two sites chosen for a national safety study. Physicians at the USF's Department of Pediatrics will begin in August a clinical trial of a topical microbicide.

The microbicide provides great promise for preventing the sexual transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus, a release said.

Microbicides are substances designed to reduce or prevent the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections when applied topically.

The study of the safety, acceptability and ease of use of the product known as MTN-004 is being conducted at USF and the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan, chosen from among 15 current sites.

USF was chosen because of its experience conducting research, including clinical trials, said Diane Straub, chief of adolescent medicine at USF Health and USF principal investigator for the study, in a release.

With almost half of all people infected with HIV/AIDS being women and the alarmingly steady increase in HIV rates among women younger than age 25, researchers have focused their attention on this population.

The Microbicide Trials Network, an HIV/AIDS clinical trials network established by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, is partnering with the Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions, which is funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

MTN and ATN will test the microbicide in sexually active young women.

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