MP Otto Odonga (pictured) was immediately denounced by the forum's keynote speaker, the chair of Kenya's Human Rights Commission, Makau Mutua, according to Xtra, a gay Canadian publication. Mutua said he was "baffled" by Odonga's homophobia. "Would you apply to be a hangman if the person to be hanged were your son?" he asked Odonga. When the MP nodded yes, Mutua replied, "There is something deeply wrong with you."
n the other presentation, Kevin Brown of the University of North Carolina presented findings of maraviroc concentration in the semen and rectal tissue of male volunteers after oral dosing.
The study used twelve HIV-negative male volunteers, who took an eight-day course of maraviroc dosed at the treatment level of 300mg twice daily.
Blood and semen drug levels were measured five times in twelve hours after a single dose on days one, seven and eight of the study, and also once on days three to six. Rectal biopsy specimens were collected on days one, seven and eight.
After a single dose, semen and blood plasma levels were initially the same but after six hours semen levels fell off more quickly. Trough levels in semen were 70% of blood levels on days 7/8, and the area under the curve (AUC – total drug exposure) in semen was 60% of that in blood. Levels seen after multiple dosing were similar.
Concentrations in rectal tissue were much higher than in blood, with a mean trough level 91 times higher than in blood and the AUC 28 times higher.
Dr Brown said that the rectal tissue levels appeared promising for the use of maraviroc as a rectal microbicide. Levels might be higher because maraviroc was partially eliminated in the faeces.
The foreskin, for those of you who don't have one (or, worse, have never seen or tasted one), is a retractable double-layered fold of skin and mucous membrane that covers the glans penis and covers the mouth of the urinary tract when the penis is not erect. This is supposed to protect the urinary tract, but there has been some evidence that infections of the penile glans and urinary tract are more common in uncicrumcised men than in their circumcised brothers. Indeed, the most-often quoted reason for circumcision is for both cultural/religious and for hygienic reasons. All Jews and Muslims and some groups of Christians cirumcise their boys, often following quite detailed rituals.
"It may be possible that HIV transmission by anal intercourse is not as closely related to viral load as it is in vaginal transmission. There is a paucity of data on HIV transmission at low viral loads, and there are almost no data on transmission and viral load in homosexual men."
Gay men have long had a complicated relationship with condoms. Anyone who’s fought a losing battle with a prophylactic due to a latex allergy or loss of an erection may one day owe a debt of gratitude to Leonardo Colemon. The affable Mississippi native manages a team of researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, and in collaboration with Pamina Gorbach and Peter Anton is developing a lubricant that would be applied to a receptive partner prior to anal sex. This lube (referred to as “booty butter” in an online educational video produced by the group) will contain microbicides designed to kill HIV and other STIs to a certain degree. “There is a condom fatigue within our community,” Colemon says. “Gay men like the natural feeling, and I look to a future with that being an option. That’s what rectal microbicides will do.” This cutting-edge infection-prevention tool is “being developed and targeted to men who have sex with men and don’t use condoms consistently,” says Colemon. “But it will also be useful to heterosexuals who want safer options for anal intercourse.” Colemon, who also volunteers as an HIV/STI counselor at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, notes that Food and Drug Administration approval could take five to 10 years, and he readily admits that while rectal microbicides “are unlikely to be 100% effective, they will certainly reduce the potential for transmission.”Leo presented "Development, Recruitment, and Utilization of a Microbicide Research Registry" on an IRMA teleconference in September, 2008 and he gave us some Good Quote too.
