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Male circumcision may protect against HIV due to
changes in bacteria.
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| Article Type: | Brief article |
| Subject: |
HIV infection
(Risk factors) HIV infection (Prevention) HIV infection (Demographic aspects) Circumcision (Health aspects) |
| Pub Date: | 05/01/2010 |
| Publication: | Name: Reproductive Health Matters Publisher: Reproductive Health Matters Audience: General Format: Magazine/Journal Subject: Family and marriage; Health; Women's issues/gender studies Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2010 Reproductive Health Matters ISSN: 0968-8080 |
| Issue: | Date: May, 2010 Source Volume: 18 Source Issue: 35 |
| Geographic: | Geographic Scope: Uganda Geographic Code: 6UGAN Uganda |
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| Accession Number: | 236247777 |
| Full Text: |
Male circumcision is associated with significant reductions in HIV,
herpes simplex virus and human papillomavirus among men and significant
reductions in bacterial vaginosis among their female partners. This
study analysed penile swabs taken from 12 participants randomly selected
from the circumcised arm of the Rakai, Uganda, circumcision study, which
enrolled 5,000 uncircumcised HIV-negative men and randomised half to be
circumcised. Swabs were taken before circumcision and one year after,
when all 12 participants were still HIV-negative. Samples contained more
than 40 distinct bacterial families, including aerobic and anaerobic
bacteria. Circumcision was associated with a significant change in the
overall microbiota (p=0.007) and a significant decrease in anaerobic
bacterial families (p=0.014). Two bacterial families were uniquely
abundant before circumcision and within these families were a number of
anaerobic types previously associated with bacterial vaginosis.
Researchers propose that the uncircumcised penile environment may
support anaerobes which activate Langerhans cells and help HIV infect
the body. Thus, the reduction in anaerobic bacteria after circumcision
provides protection from HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. If
this is true, and if the bacteria can be eliminated without foreskin
removal, such a procedure could be an alternative to circumcision where
it is culturally unacceptable or difficult to implement. There are other
hypotheses for why circumcision reduces HIV transmission including that
the inner foreskin thickens and provides a more effective barrier
against HIV. The researchers plan to look for specific bacteria
associated with HIV risk, and to explore how such bacteria might be
eliminated. (1,2) (1.) Price LB, Liu CM, Johnson KE, et al. The effects of circumcision on the penis microbiome. PLoS ONE 2010;5(1):e8422. (2.) Safreed-Harmon K. Circumcision may protect against HIV due to changes in bacteria. AIDSmap News, 8 January 2010. |
| Gale Copyright: | Copyright 2010 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. |