Yoghurt could help protect women against HIV

YOGHURT containing friendly bacteria could help women fend off HIV, it was claimed yesterday.

The harmless bug Lactobacillus has been engineered to create a microbicide that attacks the Aids virus.

Eating yoghurt with the bacteria could help protect women against HIV, according to a report in New Scientist magazine.

Lactobacillus not only exists in yoghurt but also naturally inhabits the human vagina, which it migrates to from the gut.

Once in the vagina, the bioengineered bacteria would churn out compounds that inhibit transmission of HIV and prevent infection.

Researchers, led by Dr Peter Lee from Stanford University in California, have found a way to insert a key microbicide gene into the bacterium’s main chromosome.

In mice, the integrated gene produced the microbicide at concentrations sufficient to inhibit HIV replication.

Jim Turpin, senior programme manager for microbicides at the US National Institutes for Health, described the breakthrough as “a milestone”.

The bacteria stay effective several days longer than conventional microbicidal gels.