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Arlene S. Pereira, Angela D. M. Kashuba, Susan A. Fiscus, James E. Hall, Richard R. Tidwell, Luigi Troiani, John A. Dunn, Joseph J. Eron, Myron S. Cohen, Nucleoside Analogues Achieve High Concentrations in Seminal Plasma: Relationship between Drug Concentration and Virus Burden, The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Volume 180, Issue 6, December 1999, Pages 2039–2043, https://doi.org/10.1086/315149
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Abstract
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can be transmitted in semen from a man to his sexual partners. Antiretroviral drugs are likely to affect the amount of HIV-1 in semen and perhaps transmission of the virus. The concentrations of zidovudine, lamivudine, and HIV-1 RNA in blood and seminal plasma were measured in 9 HIV-positive men over ⩽2 years. Median (25th–75th percentiles) zidovudine blood and seminal plasma concentrations were 64.2 (range, 48.4–206.9; n = 82) and 292.5 (range, 194.3—438.4; n = 79) ng/mL, respectively. Median lamivudine blood and seminal plasma concentrations were 391.3 (range, 175.3–793.8; n = 82) and 2701.8 (range, 1460.5–4320.2; n = 79) ng/mL, respectively. The concentration of HIV-1 RNA in seminal plasma was monitored as a potential surrogate marker for infectiousness. RNA became undetectable (<400 copies/mL) in the blood and seminal plasma of 8/9 subjects after initiation of therapy and remained undetectable in 6/9 subjects. These data show that zidovudine and lamivudine achieve high concentrations in seminal plasma and significantly reduce HIV-1 RNA. The effects of antiviral therapy on HIV-1 in semen and on the sexual transmission of HIV-1 require further study.