Topical administration of low-dose tenofovir disoproxil fumarate to protect infant macaques against multiple oral exposures of low doses of simian immunodeficiency virus

Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection of infant macaques is a useful animal model to determine whether topical (oral) administration of antiviral compounds to the nursing infant could reduce human immunodeficiency virus transmission through breast-feeding. The reverse-transcriptase inhibitor tenofovir was selected because of previous demonstrations that systemic drug levels are effective in preventing SIV infection. To mimic the multiple exposures to virus during breast-feeding, 14 infant macaques were fed 15 low doses of SIVmac251 without chemical restraint. Six animals were treated with placebo, and 2 groups of 4 animals received oral topical doses of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (DF; equivalent to 0.037 mg of tenofovir/day). About half the animals of each group became infected. In a subsequent study, 2 oral inoculations of 4 juvenile macaques with a mixture of tenofovir DF and SIVmac251 induced persistent infection. Topical administration of low doses of tenofovir DF did not protect against oral SIV infection.