The impact of semen on HIV-1 replication by colonic tissue.

<p>Tissues were set-up in duplicate in polarized cultures to evaluate the effects of semen on HIV-1 infection (A) or on tissue viability/architecture (B). (A) HIV-1_BaL or HIV-1_JR-CSF was mixed with 50% whole semen and applied to the apical surface and cultured overnight. The following day, the tissues were thoroughly washed and followed through day 21 of culture. HIV-1 replication (p24 ELISA) was monitored in the basolateral supernatant collected every 3 to 4 days of culture. The data presented are the median ±95% confidence interval of 5 tissues for HIV-1_BaL and HIV-1_JR-CSF each for surgical resections; and 7 tissues for HIV-1_BaL and 5 tissues for HIV-1_JR-CSF for flexible sigmoidoscopy. (B) 50% semen was added to the apical surface of surgical resections (SR) or flexible sigmoidoscopy (FS). As controls, medium alone (untreated control) or medium containing a 1∶5 dilution of a 3% nonoxynol-9 (N9)-containing gel were used. After an overnight culture, tissues were washed with one piece further cultured in medium containing 1-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-3,5-diphenylformazan for the MTT assay or the other piece fixed in paraformaldehyde for hematoxylin and eosin staining. The MTT assay results are presented as scatter plots with the horizontal lines denoting the mean ± standard deviation of 5 independent tissues. The histology is representative of one of those tissues.