HIV is find oneself in the seminal fluid of infected mortal , so by nature you ’d assume that the more picture a soul has through sex , the more likely they are to become infected . As always , it seems that thing are n’t that simple , at least for cleaning woman .
According to an intriguingnew work , continued genital vulnerability to this corporal fluid leads to variety in the environment of the vagina that could actually increase resistance to HIV . But it ’s imperative these determination are not wrongly construe as a free pass to forgo the use of condoms : These remain one of the most effective measuring stick to reduce the risk of transmission , not just of HIV but of STDs in universal . And this does n’t mean that women who have quite a little of unprotected sex wo n’t get HIV ; the risk may be reduced , but it ’s not rule out .
disregarding , the result are helping scientists see some seemingly self-contradictory observance in the field of battle . Sex remains the principal route of HIV transmission worldwide , for both men and women , thus sex workers are inherently at a high jeopardy of contract the computer virus . Yet in sure areas of the world with a gamey prevalence of HIV , some female sex workers go along to test electronegative for the virus , despite being in the industry for prolonged periods and seldom using condoms .
This led scientists to trust that these womanhood might have developed some kind of mechanism of resistance to the virus , whether intrinsical or adaptative , yet what this could be , and what drives these changes , has eluded scientists . That said , studies have suggested that seed can trigger knifelike resistant system response , perhaps leading to modification in the vagina ’s microenvironment that might actually be beneficial in terms of resist infection .
safety should still be used to protect against HIV and other STDs . chingyunsong / Shutterstock
To probe this possibility , researchers from the Wistar Institute rivet on a chemical group of sex workers in San Juan , Puerto Rico . Participants had all been in the industriousness for at least three years and all quiz negative for HIV and other STDs ; control they were compared with were inscribe from the same field , and self - account down in the mouth photograph to semen .
Reported in the journalMucosal Immunity , the research worker made three central observations that they conceive could be contribute to the apparent reduced risk of infection among sex workers who report low condom utilization . Perhaps most notably , the immune scheme of the sex worker come along to show lower levels of activation . You might think that an active immune reply would be good in terms of defend off infection , but in reality HIV postulate to be inside touch off cells in parliamentary procedure to replicate , so this find is pregnant .
The squad also describe that cell line the uterine cervix showed alteration in gene reflexion that could confer underground . For illustration , they mark a diminution in the expression of gene that have been implicated in key stages of HIV ’s spirit cycle , like when it fall away its genome into our own , a requirement for replication . Interestingly , the researchers also discovered a positive correlation between come pic and ramped up levels of an resistant particle call in case 1 interferon , a crucial instrumentalist in antiviral answer . conduct together , the team reason these outcome indicate that exposure to cum can lead to changes in the vagina that may contribute to a rock-bottom susceptibility , notan eliminated risk , to HIV infection .
" It is important to note that the study does not make a face for intimate congress without a condom , as doing so will increase the overall risk of HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases , " lead generator Luis J. Montaner said . " or else , this report key out unexpected effects that long - term semen exposure may have on the cervix and vagina that may lower but not bump off the likeliness of infection . "
