KAMPALA, April 4 (Xinhuanet) -- Ongoing trials of two potential vaginal microbicides against HIV/AIDS at a hospital in Kampala have so far produced promising results, local newspaper Sunday Monitor reported.

    Vaginal microbicides are substances that a women can insert before sex in order to inactivate HIV and other sexually transmitted microbes.

    The microbicides can work in one of three says - by killing the virus before it enters the body, by preventing it from taking hold once inside the body, or by creating a barrier to stop it from entering the body in the first place, the report said.

    The study is a collaboration between investigators at St Mary'sHospital, London, the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, TheUK's Medical Research Council program on AIDS in Uganda, St Francis Hospital in Kampala and two pharmaceutical companies in Britain and the United States.

    According to a latest brief on the trials, one of the two vaginal microbicides has already passed the safety and acceptability test. In phase two of the trials results on dextrin sulphate show that its safety and acceptability is high and preliminary findings on the PRO2000 microbicide also show positive results.

    A total of 100 women were involved in the dextrin sulphate trials while 50 were enrolled for the still ongoing trails on the PRO2000 gel.

    Dr. Anatoli Kamali who will be the leading collaborator of phase III of the trials, said "This does not override the use of condoms but the two should go hand in hand because it could help to prevent millions of new infections.

    Around 60 microbicides are now in development around the world with about 14 in clinical trials and researchers say if the results turn out positive, the gels could transform the fight against HIV within a decade. Enditem