s team tested GML, carried in KY jelly, in macaque
monkeys. They put the gel into the vaginas
of the
monkeys and then applied SIV, a monkey version of HIV.
Four out of five monkeys never became infected and tests showed GML affected the immune response.
HIV is particularly hard to fight because it infects the very immune cells the body uses to attack a virus. When HIV infects an area such as the vagina, the CD4 T-cells rush to defend against it.