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  • Title: Nonoxyl-9 and women's struggle against HIV.
    Author: Gilmour E.
    Journal: AIDS Anal Afr; 1996 Oct; 6(5):14. PubMed ID: 12347429.
    Abstract:
    Most people worldwide contract HIV through unprotected heterosexual intercourse. There is strong evidence that women are biologically at greater risk of heterosexual transmission than men. The presence of easily traumatized columnar cells on the vaginal portion of the uterine cervix of young women and girls makes these women even more vulnerable to infection. Women need effective, available, and appropriate ways to protect themselves against HIV infection, preferably methods which are invisible to their male sex partners. Many women lack the necessary social and economic power to force men to practice safer sex. Vaginal microbicides may be just what women need. Nonoxynol-9, a nonionic detergent which disrupts cell membranes, has been in use as a spermicide for more than 30 years. Its efficacy as a microbicide, however, is unclear. A protective effect has been shown against bacterial sexually transmitted diseases (STD), but questions remain about its effectiveness against HIV. New formulations of low-dose nonoxynol-9 have recently been tested in healthy volunteers. These trials have thus far shown limited toxicity, even with multiple administration. The long-term safety of these low-dose formulations and their efficacy against male-to-female HIV transmission need to be assessed. Both female condoms and vaginal microbicides are being tested in KwaZulu-Natal.
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