Biomedical researchers at Duke University were able to develop a computer tool which they claim could lead to topical miccrobicide development for women's use in prevention of AIDS-causing virus.

Women currently acounts for a growing number of new AIDS infections worldwide, thus providing them with improved microbicides has turned into an urgent challenge.

The Duke researchers have developed a computer model through application of fundamentals in physics and chemistry, that can predict the effectiveness of various microbicidal recipes in destroying human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) before it reaches vulnerable body tissues.

The findings emphasize a critical role for the "delivery vehicle," the various polymer gels or creams that carry the active antimicrobial ingredients, in determining the success or failure of microbicides, according to the researchers. Yet, they add, most scientists have concentrated on improving the antimicrobial compounds themselves, rather than their delivery.

"There is a huge push to produce microbicides that would have any effectiveness at all in reducing the spread of HIV, particularly in places like Africa and Southeast Asia where the disease is rampant," said David Katz, a professor of biomedical engineering at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering and one of the computer tool's developers.

"We are developing methodologies to make the next round of microbicides even better."
"Existing microbicides are excellent in terms of their ability to inactivate HIV," added Anthony Geonnotti, the study's lead investigator, who is a Ph.D. candidate in Katz's laboratory. "Improvements to future generations of microbicides will largely depend on the delivery system and applicators." However, he added, advances made through continued research on new and better drugs should not be discounted.

Using the said computer tool, the researchers were able to determine that a thin, long-lasting coating of microbicide delivered to susceptible tissues in a woman's vagina can significantly reduce the spread of HIV.

The findings have been reported in the September 2006 Biophysical Journal.

Find more details from Duke University News.