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Truvada (tenofovir) is used for
pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce risk of HIV infection among
risk-taking HIV-negative gay men. Researchers investigated whether use of
Truvada as PrEP encouraged risk-taking among men who have sex with men (MSM). The
researchers studied 400 gay men for 24 months between 2005 and 2007 in a
randomized double-blind placebo study. One group of participants began taking
Truvada at the outset of the study and the other began nine months later.
Researchers interviewed the men at entry into the study and every three months
concerning sexual risk-taking and use of recreational drugs and erectile
dysfunction medications.
Participants had an average of 7.25
partners in the three months prior to the study. This number decreased to 6
partners between months 3 and 9 and to 5.71 in the second year. Before
baseline, 57 percent of participants reported unprotected anal sex. The number
dropped to 48 percent between months 3 and 9, and rose to 52 percent in the
second year. Also, at baseline, 29 percent of participants reported unprotected
intercourse with a man they knew to be HIV-positive. This number dropped to 21
percent between months 3 and 9 and increased slightly to 22 percent in the
second year. Unprotected sex with partners they knew to be HIV-positive
decreased from 2 at the beginning of the study to 1.37 during the second year,
and unprotected anal intercourse with partners believed to be HIV-negative
increased from 2.75 at baseline to 4 during year two.
Findings indicate that the use of
Truvada as PrEP did not increase sexual risk-taking among HIV-negative MSM.
However, findings are tempered by the fact that the study provided the
participants with risk-reduction counseling, condoms and lubricant, routine HIV
tests, STD testing, and links to prevention services. The researchers
acknowledge that these measures may have affected the observed risk reduction
and risk declines.
The full report, “Sexual Risk
Behavior Among HIV-Uninfected Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) Participating in
a Tenofovir Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Randomized Trial in the United
States,” is published online in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndromes (2013; doi: 10.1097/QAI.0b013e31828f097a).
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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