Long-lasting gel blocks herpes

[Dover]

Long-lasting gel blocks herpes
22 April 2005

AN EXPERIMENTAL gel can prevent herpes infection in mice. If it works as well in people, one application would protect women for several days.

Genital herpes is caused by the herpes simplex virus. In the US, 1 in 5 people are infected. The virus can lie dormant in nerve cells, periodically reactivating and causing a recurrence of symptoms. There are treatments but no cure - people remain infected for life and can infect partners. While vaccines against herpes are in development, none has proved fully effective.

Now Judy Lieberman's team at Harvard Medical School has harnessed the power of RNA interference to block herpes infection. A gel containing small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) that trigger the destruction of viral genes is applied to the vagina, where they are absorbed and remain active for at least 10 days. The gel completely blocked infection in mice, Lieberman told a meeting in Boston recently.

If it works in people too, the long-lasting protection would be a great advantage, she says. "The problem with microbicides is that people don't remember to use them before they have sex."..cont'd

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18624965.100