Our war with HIV is far from won , and set scientists keep add together to our ever - growing antiviral armamentarium in hope of eventual defeat . But how about fighting microbe with microbe ? That ’s the idea of one grouping of researchers , who have launch that a fussy species of bacterium helps create a protective earnings in the vagina that catch HIV and foreclose sexual transmission .
“ Mucosal surface , such as the lung , GI tract , or distaff procreative nerve pathway , are where most contagion take place , ” senior writer Sam Lai from the University of North Carolina said in astatement . “ Our bodies secrete over 6 liters [ 10 pint ] of mucous secretion everyday as a first crease of defense . ”
But it ’s not an impenetrable roadblock : Sexually transmitted infections , colds and venter bugs are grounds of that . They also slenderly differ from person to person , which plays a part in the variation in disease susceptibility that we honor . Take the vagina , for case . Alongside hosting a complex , delicate regalia of beneficial microbes that help fend off intruders , the cervicovaginal mucus ( CVM ) also makes it tough for invader to get to the underlying susceptible cells , but its properties variegate importantly not just between individuals , but also at unlike times in the same person .
So what ’s behind this ? A squad of investigator decide to come up out . As describe inmBio , they begin by pull together CVM sample from 31 char which they scrutinized for departure in an array of properties . Next , they tested the CVMs capabilities of trapping HIV particles , which the team tagged with fluorescent fixture markers , by traverse and filming the movement of the viruses through the mucus using time - reversion microscopy . This revealed that the women fell broadly into two categories : those who had CVM samples that were adept at overtake the virus , and those who establish a less power to do so .
Further examination found that neither pH spirit level , which are observe dispirited to avoid infection , nor full lactic acid – produce by vaginal bug – seemed to be a predictor of HIV trap power . Interestingly , neither was one measure clinicians use to evaluate overall vaginal health , called the Nugent score , which reverberate proportion of friendlyLactobacillusbacteria compared with other coinage .
But what they did notice was that grade of a different chemical , called five hundred - lactic loony toons , did seem to correlate with the ability to ensnare HIV . And that piqued the researchers ’ interestingness , because the trunk ca n’t actually make it , so they speculate that there must be a microbic element to their observations .
They tested this idea out by sequencing the bacterial genome in the sampling to identify the coinage present , which expose that those with the highest 500 - lactic pane levels , and thus those that trap HIV most efficiently , were dominated by a species calledLactobacillus crispatus . Conversely , those less effective at catching the computer virus , with the lowest 500 - lactic acids , demonstrated an teemingness of different microbes : L. inersorG. vaginalis , the latter of which is actually consociate with bacterial vaginosis .
It turns out thatL. crispatusimparts a stickiness to the CVM that helps entrap HIV particles , rather than making this “ final ” squiffy , so to speak . And they do n’t call up that this is unique to HIV either , as the squad predicts this sticky nature in all likelihood also helps prevent other microbes from get in touch with the underlying cells .
The researcher envisage that this information could ultimately be used to slenderize new contagion , not just of HIV but other sexually transmitted agents . If a unproblematic room to conform the proportion of bacteria in party favor ofL. crispatuscan be develop , then woman may be better protect against infection .
