Assisted conception in HIV discordant couples: evaluation of semen processing techniques in reducing HIV viral load

Viruses in the Mammalian Male Genital Tract and Their Effects on the Reproductive System

“…This problem is very acute because spermatozoa from HIV-positive men, cleared of seminal plasma and infected mononuclear cells, are used for medically assisted reproduction in serodiscordant couples (293)(294)(295). Thus, although semen washing on a density gradient before artificial insemination may reduce the risk of HIV transmission from the infected man to an uninfected woman (166,188), the virus may still be detected in the fraction of motile spermatozoa used for insemination (70,203,316). Insemination in such cases is, of course, not performed.…”

Development and evaluation of a qualitative reverse-transcriptase nested polymerase chain reaction protocol for same-day viral validation of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 ribonucleic acid in processed semen

“…Percoll gradient generally is not sufficient to reduce HIV-1 RNA contamination to an undetectable level. Chrystie et al (16) demonstrated that Percoll gradient reduced HIV-1 RNA below the detection limit of their method in only 4 of 10 initially HIV-1 RNA-positive semen.…”

“…These techniques have sensitivity of between 20 and 4000 HIV-1 RNA copies per milliliter according to in-house procedures, manufacturers, versions of the kit, or manipulations added by the investigators (13,(15)(16)(17)(18). Recovery of HIV-1 RNA depends on the detection sensitivity of the technique used but also on the semen preparation method.…”

Infección por virus de inmunodeficiencia humana, embarazo y deseo de reproducción: Comité de SIDA Pediátrico Sociedad Chilena de Pediatría

“…Con la técnica de "lavado de espermios" en que se libera a éstos de líquido seminal y células no espermáticas antes de la inseminación, se reduce la posibilidad de transmisión del virus. Un estudio de 1.000 inseminaciones en 350 parejas discordantes para infección por VIH resultó en 200 embarazos y ningún caso de mujer o niño infectado 17 .…”