Copper may Hamper the Transmission of HIV

Copper-impregnated fibers used in an inexpensive copper-based filter may prevent HIV from being passed through breast milk and blood.

Researchers at Cupron (Kfar Gibton, Israel) conducted a study to determine the capacity of copper-based filters to inactivate HIV-1 in culture media. Medium spiked with high titers of HIV-1 was exposed to either copper oxide powder, copper oxide-impregnated fibers, or passed through copper-based filters, and the infectious viral titers before and after treatment were determined. The researchers found that cell-free and cell-associated HIV-1 infectivity was inhibited when exposed to copper oxide in a dose-dependent manner, without cytotoxicity at the active antiviral copper concentrations. Similar dose-dependent inhibition occurred when HIV-1 was exposed to copper-impregnated fibers. Filtration of HIV-1 through filters containing the copper powder or copper-impregnated fibers resulted in viral inactivation that was not strain specific; viral deactivation affected all 12 wild-type or drug-resistant HIV-1 strains tested, including macrophage-tropic and T-cell-tropic, clade A, B, or C isolates. The study was published in the February 2008 issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

"This inexpensive methodology may significantly reduce HIV-1 transmission from mother-to-child and/or through blood donations if proven to be effective in breast milk or plasma and safe for use,” concluded lead author Gadi Borkow, Ph.D., and colleagues. "The successful application of this technology may impact HIV-1 transmission, especially in developing countries where HIV-1 is rampant.”

Copper's antimicrobial properties have been known for more than five millennia. The ancient Egyptians used copper pipes to transport water to destroy parasites and other water-borne pathogens; shipbuilders have used copper for thousands of years to keep algae from encrusting on the hulls of ships. French vintners have used a copper sulfate compound to fight fungus on grapevines for hundreds of years.

Worldwide statistics of HIV transmission through breast milk and blood transfusions are at a disastrous high, especially in developing countries. In 2001, breast-feeding was attributed to nearly 50% of the 700,000 mother-to-child HIV transmission cases reported.
The World Health Organization (WHO, Geneva, Switzerland) has estimated that blood transfusions are responsible for 80,000 to 160,000 HIV infections each year, while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA) reported that transfusions are the cause of 5 to 10% of HIV infections in developing countries.


Related Links:
Cupron
World Health Organization