Study finds mice
susceptible to same method of HIV infection as humans

Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, in a study published in the March 26 issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine, reveal that a type of lab mouse is susceptible to intrarectal HIV infection, a common course of infection in humans. This finding makes the mice useful for unprecedented clinical trials and studies for vaccines, preventative measures, and microbicides.

Researchers found that when the mice were infected intrarectally with HIV, the infection progressed the same way it does in humans.

"We finally have a way of following HIV in a system that is as close to the human condition as you can get," said J. Victor Garcia, the study's senior author and a professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern Medical School. Garcia and his colleagues plan to study intravaginal HIV infection in the mice as well. (The Advocate)