Journal
PLOS ONE
Volume 7, Issue 11, Pages -Publisher
PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0049792
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Funding
- United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) [5U54HD042454]
- University of Washington
- Creative and Novel Ideas in HIV Research award [AI027767]
- NIH [AI094412, AI098648]
- NSF Graduate Research Fellowships
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Multipurpose prevention technologies (MPTs) that simultaneously prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancy are a global health priority. Combining chemical and physical barriers offers the greatest potential to design effective MPTs, but integrating both functional modalities into a single device has been challenging. Here we show that drug-eluting fiber meshes designed for topical drug delivery can function as a combination chemical and physical barrier MPT. Using FDA-approved polymers, we fabricated nanofiber meshes with tunable fiber size and controlled degradation kinetics that facilitate simultaneous release of multiple agents against HIV-1, HSV-2, and sperm. We observed that drug-loaded meshes inhibited HIV-1 infection in vitro and physically obstructed sperm penetration. Furthermore, we report on a previously unknown activity of glycerol monolaurate (GML) to potently inhibit sperm motility and viability. The application of drug-eluting nanofibers for HIV-1 prevention and sperm inhibition may serve as an innovative platform technology for drug delivery to the lower female reproductive tract.
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