Sperm Washing of HIV Infected Semen in Serodiscordant Couples for IVF/ICSI

Background: Advances in antiretroviral therapy have increased the life expectancy and quality of life of individuals that are infected with HIV-1. People live with HIV are likely want to have children as their clinical condition improves. Serodiscordant couples must always use condoms during intercourse since HIV-1 is primarily transmitted sexually. HIV-1 seropositive men require special assisted reproduction protocols involve the treatment of sperm samples and the confirmation of viral absences before their use.Methods: After 3-5 days of sexual abstinence, semen samples collected from 30 healthy men. Three concentrations of HIV-1 plasma were spiked in semen samples. For elimination of HIV- 1 RNA, a nested tube sperm washing procedure was done. Total RNA was extracted and cDNA was synthesized. ELISA, cell culture assays, RealtimePCR, and nested-PCR used for determining the presence/absence of viral contamination. Results: ELISA test showed that all spiked-in samples after washing were negative for HIV-1 antigen-antibody. In confirmation of ELISA test, nested PCR and real time PCR showed no detectable HIV-1 RNA after washing. Conclusion: Our study recommends the safety of sperm washing protocol based the nested tube for semen HIV-1 decontamination. Using this method, a safe pregnancy could be possible through IVF/ICSI of the washed sperms in serodiscordant couples.

Keywords:

Serodiscordant , HIV-1 , Sperm Washing , Nested PCR , Real-time PCR