Assisted conception in HIV discordant couples: evaluation of semen processing techniques in reducing HIV viral load.
Artificial insemination with motile spermatozoa prepared from HIV-infected men using standard procedures has been employed with many HIV-discordant couples. We have demonstrated that processing semen from HIV positive men can reduce HIV levels, measured as HIV1 RNA copies/ml using nucleic acid based sequence amplification (NASBA), to undetectable levels (less than 400 copies/ml) but not in all samples. We believe that all processed samples should be tested prior to insemination.
Chrystie
I L
IL
Department of Virology, Guy's Hospital Trust, London, UK.
Mullen
J E
JE
Braude
P R
PR
Rowell
P
P
Williams
E
E
Elkington
N
N
de Ruiter
A
A
Rice
K
K
Kennedy
J
J
D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007315:Insemination, Artificial; D008297:Male; D012661:Semen / Q000821:virology*; D019562:Viral Load