Chemoprophylaxis With Oral Emtricitabine and Tenofovir Alafenamide Combination Protects Macaques From Rectal Simian/Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection.

Massud, Ivana; Mitchell, James; Babusis, Darius; Deyounks, Frank; Ray, Adrian S; Rooney, James F; Heneine, Walid; Miller, Michael D et al. · J Infect Dis · 2016

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) is a novel prodrug of tenofovir that efficiently delivers tenofovir diphosphate to lymphoid cells following oral administration. We investigated whether the combination of TAF and emtricitabine (FTC) could prevent simian/human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) infection in macaques to determine the potential use of TAF for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent human immunodeficiency virus infection. Macaques were exposed rectally to SHIV once per week for up to 19 weeks and received saline or FTC/TAF 24 hours before and 2 hours after each virus inoculation. All 6 controls were infected, while the 6 PrEP-treated animals were protected from infection. Our results support the clinical investigation of FTC/TAF for PrEP.

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