Current Science

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Body fluids of mammals, including semen, are increasingly recognized to harbour anti-microbial proteins which play a role in host defence against a myriad of pathogens. Human seminal plasma inhibin (hSPI) is reported to be a multifunctional protein, well-studied primarily for its fertility-related effects and recently for its anti-fungal activity. Therefore, it was thought worthwhile to study whether it also possesses anti-HIV activity. Towards this objective, human seminal plasma proteins were fractionated using gel-permeation chromatography and chromatofocusing. Results demonstrated that fraction-5 (containing purified hSPI) of the chromatofocused fractions demonstrated substantial anti-HIV activity. The data suggest that hSPI possesses anti-HIV activity. In future, molecular models based on such naturally occurring proteins could be potentially employed for prevention/ therapeutics for HIV/AIDS.

Keywords

Anti-Microbial Proteins, Host Defence, Innate Immunity, Semen.
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