Prospective Clinical Trials Designed to Assess the Use of Hormonal Contraceptives and Risk of HIV Acquisition

Risk factors and algorithms for chlamydial and gonococcal cervical infections in women attending family planning clinics in Thailand

AIM

To identify risk factors associated with and evaluate algorithms for predicting Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) cervical infections in women attending family planning clinics in Thailand.

METHODS

Eligible women were recruited from family planning clinics from all regions in Thailand. The women were followed at 3-month intervals for 15-24 months. At each visit, the women were interviewed for interval sexually transmitted infection (STI) history in the past 3 months, recent sexual behavior, and contraceptive use. Pelvic examinations were performed and endocervical specimens were collected to test for CT and NG using polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTS

Factors associated with incident CT/NG cervical infections in multivariate analyses included region of country other than the north, age <or=25 years, polygamous marriage, acquiring a new sex partner in the last 3 months, abnormal vaginal discharge, mucopurulent cervical discharge, and easily induced bleeding of the endocervix. Three models were developed to predict cervical infection. A model incorporating demographic factors and sexual behaviors had a sensitivity of 61% and a specificity of 71%. Incorporating additional factors did not materially improve test performance. Positive predictive values for all models evaluated were low.

CONCLUSION

In resource-limited settings, algorithmic approaches to identifying incident cervical infections among low-risk women may assist providers in the management of these infections.

Contraception and HIV infection in women

BACKGROUND

More than 15 million women, many of reproductive age, were infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) at the end of 2007. As the HIV epidemic evolves, heterosexual intercourse is increasingly risky: the risk of infection in exposed young women is 4- to 7-fold higher than in young men and nearly half a million newborns annually have HIV. This review aims to show the effect of contraceptive choices on risk of HIV and on the course of disease in women with HIV.

METHODS

Relevant citations were selected by agreement between the authors after a search of MEDLINE using the terms HIV/AIDS and contraception.

RESULTS

Risk of transmission of HIV varies from 1 in 200 to 1 in 10 000 coital incidents, depending in part on the integrity of the vaginal epithelium. Consistent use of male condoms has been proven to reduce horizontal transmission of HIV by 80% among HIV-serodiscordant couples. Hormonal contraception may increase the risk of HIV acquisition in high-risk women such as commercial sex workers, but not in women at low risk of HIV. While hormonal contraception did not affect progression of disease in two cohort studies involving 370 women, in a randomized trial among women not receiving antiretroviral medication, clinical disease accelerated in the oral contraception group (13.2/100 woman-years) compared with the copper intrauterine devices group (8.6/100 woman-years; hazard ratio, 1.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-2.1). Hormonal contraception does not interfere with antiviral drug effectiveness.

CONCLUSIONS

All the available reversible contraceptive methods can generally be used by women at risk of HIV infection and by HIV-infected women. Further studies are needed to investigate the safety and efficiency of hormonal contraception in women living with HIV/AIDS.

Depo-Provera abrogates attenuated lentivirus-induced protection in male rhesus macaques challenged intravenously with pathogenic SIVmac239

BACKGROUND

Progesterone administration prior to intravaginal challenge with pathogenic SIVmac239 decreases the protective efficacy of live attenuated vaccines in rhesus macaques.

METHODS

To determine if progesterone alters the efficacy of live attenuated vaccines through local or systemic effects, seven male rhesus macaques were immunized with SHIV89.6 and then challenged intravenously with SIVmac239. Three of these animals were treated with Depo-Provera 30 days prior to the SIV challenge.

RESULTS

The SHIV animals had significantly lower plasma viral RNA levels than the unimmunized control monkeys, but the Depo-Provera treated, SHIV-immunized animals did not. Despite the lack of protection, the Depo-Provera SHIV animals had strong SIV specific T-cell responses. However, altered patterns of NK frequency and CD38 T-cell expression prior to SIV challenge were observed in Depo-Provera SHIV animals.

CONCLUSIONS

Depo-Provera eliminates live-attenuated lentivirus vaccine efficacy in male rhesus monkeys through systemic effects on antiviral immunity and/or viral replication.

Hormonal contraceptive use, herpes simplex virus infection, and risk of HIV-1 acquisition among Kenyan women

BACKGROUND

Studies of the effect of hormonal contraceptive use on the risk of HIV-1 acquisition have generated conflicting results. A recent study from Uganda and Zimbabwe found that women using hormonal contraception were at increased risk for HIV-1 if they were seronegative for herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), but not if they were HSV-2 seropositive.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the effect of HSV-2 infection on the relationship between hormonal contraception and HIV-1 in a high-risk population. Hormonal contraception has previously been associated with increased HIV-1 risk in this population.

METHODS

Data were from a prospective cohort study of 1206 HIV-1 seronegative sex workers from Mombasa, Kenya who were followed monthly. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards analyses were used to adjust for demographic and behavioral measures and incident sexually transmitted diseases.

RESULTS

: Two hundred and thirty-three women acquired HIV-1 (8.7/100 person-years). HSV-2 prevalence (81%) and incidence (25.4/100 person-years) were high. In multivariate analysis, including adjustment for HSV-2, HIV-1 acquisition was associated with use of oral contraceptive pills [adjusted hazard ratio (HR), 1.46; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.00-2.13] and depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (adjusted HR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.28-2.34). The effect of contraception on HIV-1 susceptibility did not differ significantly between HSV-2 seronegative versus seropositive women. HSV-2 infection was associated with elevated HIV-1 risk (adjusted HR, 3.58; 95% CI, 1.64-7.82).

CONCLUSIONS

In this group of high-risk African women, hormonal contraception and HSV-2 infection were both associated with increased risk for HIV-1 acquisition. HIV-1 risk associated with hormonal contraceptive use was not related to HSV-2 serostatus.

The influence of hormonal contraceptive use on HIV-1 transmission and disease progression

Women account for nearly one-half of new human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infections worldwide, including the majority of infections in Africa. Biological and epidemiological studies suggest that hormonal contraceptive use could influence susceptibility to HIV-1, as well as infectivity and disease progression for those who become infected. However, not all studies have shown this relationship, and many questions remain. Safe and effective contraceptive choices are essential for women with and at risk for HIV-1 infection. Thus, understanding the effect, if any, of hormonal contraception on HIV-1 disease among women is a public health priority.

Hormonal contraception and HIV-1 disease progression among postpartum Kenyan women

OBJECTIVE

To assess the immediate and longer-term effects of the use of hormonal contraception on the progression of HIV-1 disease in postpartum women.

DESIGN

A prospective cohort study.

METHODS

Information on contraceptive use, breastfeeding and intercurrent illnesses was obtained from HIV-infected postpartum Kenyan women monthly in the first year postpartum and quarterly in the second year. Blood was collected for T-cell subset analyses and HIV-1-RNA levels at months 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 postpartum. The immediate effect of the initiation of oral contraceptive pills (OCP) and depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) was assessed by comparing the change in the HIV-1-RNA plasma viral load and CD4 T-cell counts among women remaining off these contraceptive methods with those initiating them. The longer-term effects of OCP and DMPA on disease progression were assessed using Loess curves and linear mixed effects models to compare changes over the first 24 months postpartum in these same disease progression markers.

RESULTS

There were no significant immediate or longer-term effects of the use of OCP or DMPA on HIV-1-RNA plasma viral loads and CD4 T-cell counts in this cohort of HIV-infected postpartum Kenyan women.

CONCLUSION

Comprehensive contraceptive counselling for HIV-1-infected women requires an understanding of the effects of various contraceptive methods on HIV-1 disease progression. In this study, hormonal contraception reassuringly had no immediate or longer-term effects on the rate of disease progression in chronically HIV-1-infected postpartum women. This highly effective family planning method may provide a useful and safe option for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1.