Study adds more
weight to claims that circumcision cuts HIV risks

A new study adds more evidence to support the theory that circumcision helps protect against HIV infections, this time suggesting that the female sex partners of men who are circumcised are at a lower risk of infection. Previous studies have suggested that men who are circumcised are significantly less likely to be infected with HIV than their uncircumcised peers.

The study, presented Wednesday in Denver at the 13th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, followed hundreds of Ugandan couples, in which all of the men were HIV-positive and the women initially were all HIV-negative. A total of 299 women whose husbands were uncircumcised contracted the virus through sexual contact, compared with just 44 women with circumcised partners who became infected. The researchers say circumcision cut the transmission rate to female sex partners by 30%.

The researchers say the reduced risk may have resulted because certain cells in the foreskin of the penis are more likely to harbor high levels of HIV than other cells in the body; the concentration of virus in the foreskin can be up to nine times higher than in cells elsewhere in the body.

Previous research has suggested that men who are circumcised are at a lower risk of HIV infection because certain cells in the foreskin are particularly susceptible to HIV infection. In uncircumcised men, sexual fluids that can contain HIV can become trapped under the foreskin and placed in prolonged contact with these vulnerable cells. Studies have shown circumcision can reduce the chance of heterosexual men becoming infected with HIV by 60%.

Although circumcision studies to date have focused on heterosexual men and their female sex partners, researchers believe circumcised gay men also are at a lower risk of HIV infection than their uncircumcised peers. (Advocate.com)