Tenofovir diphosphate concentrations and prophylactic effect in a macaque model of rectal simian HIV transmission.

Objectives This study evaluated the relationship between intracellular tenofovir diphosphate concentrations in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and prophylactic efficacy in a macaque model for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Methods Macaques were challenged with simian HIV (SHIV) via rectal inoculation once weekly for up to 14 weeks. A control group (n = 34) received no drug, a second group (n = 6) received oral tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine 3 days before each virus challenge and a third group (n = 6) received the same dosing plus another dose 2 h after virus challenge. PBMCs were collected just before each weekly virus challenge. The relationship between tenofovir diphosphate in PBMCs and prophylactic efficacy was assessed with a Cox proportional hazards model. Results The percentages of animals infected in the control, one-dose and two-dose groups were 97, 83 and 17, respectively. The mean (SD) steady-state tenofovir diphosphate concentration (fmol/106 cells) was 15.8 (7.6) in the one-dose group and 30.7 (10.1) in the two-dose group. Each 5 fmol tenofovir diphosphate/106 cells was associated with a 40% (95% CI 17%–56%) reduction in risk of SHIV acquisition, P = 0.002. The tenofovir diphosphate concentration associated with a 90% reduction in risk (EC90) was 22.6 fmol/106 cells (95% CI 13.8–60.8). Conclusions The prophylactic EC90 for tenofovir diphosphate identified in macaques exposed rectally compares well with the EC90 previously identified in men who have sex with men (MSM; 16 fmol/106 cells, 95% CI 3–28). These results highlight the relevance of this model to inform human PrEP studies of oral tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine for MSM. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]