Gloom about the performance of microbicide gels aimed at preventing HIVinfection lifted a little yesterday (9 February) with the results of a major newtrial.

　　随着一项新的大型试验的结果公布，笼罩预防艾滋病病毒感染的杀微生物剂凝胶性能的乌云减少了一些。

　　The multi-site study gives a "strong indication", that the gel, PRO 2000,might protect against infection, say researchers. But the results were notcompletely certain.

　　科学家说，这项多点研究提供了“强烈的迹象”表明PRO 2000凝胶可能保护使用者不受感染。但是这些结果不完全确定。

　　The trial, which compared two gels for preventing the sexual transmissionof HIV from men to women, follows the unsuccessful trial of Carraguard, theresults of which were published last year.

　　该试验比较了两种凝胶在防止艾滋病病毒从男性通过性传播传给女性方面的优劣，在此之前，Carraguard凝胶的试验失败了，其结果于去年发表。

　　That trial led commentators to speculate that the way forward inHIV/AIDS-prevention lies in vaccines or gels in combination with antiretroviraldrugs.

　　那项试验导致评论家推测预防艾滋病的前方道路是疫苗，或者是凝胶与抗逆转录病毒药物的组合。

　　In the latest trial, the Medical Research Council of South Africa (MRC)enrolled just over 3,000 women across seven sites in Malawi, South Africa,Zambia, Zimbabwe and the United States between February 2005 and September 2008.

　　在最新的这项实验中，南非医学研究理事会于2005年2月到2008年9月间在马拉维、南非、赞比亚、津巴布韦和美国的7个地点招募了超过3000名女性。

　　The study compared BufferGel and PRO 2000 with a placebo gel and no gel.

　　这项研究比较了BufferGel、PRO 2000、安慰剂凝胶和不使用任何凝胶。

　　Of the four groups, the lowest incidence of HIV was in the group using thePRO 2000 gel, showing a protective effect of 30 per cent. This falls short ofthe 33 per cent target considered statistically significant.

　　在这4组中，艾滋病感染率最低的是使用PRO 2000凝胶的组，它显示出了30%的保护效果。这没有达到被认为具有统计显著性的33%的目标。

　　There was also evidence that, for those who used the gel frequently andcondoms infrequently, there was an efficacy of 78 per cent.

　　也有证据表明，对于那些经常使用这种凝胶且很少使用安全套的人，效果是78%。

　　None of the interventions was effective in preventing other sexuallytransmitted infections — or as a contraceptive.

　　这些干预手段全都无法预防其他性传播疾病或怀孕。

　　"PRO 2000 is the first microbicide product, after ten years of research,that suggests that the use of a microbicide for HIV prevention will work," saidGita Ramjee, director of the MRC HIV Prevention Unit and principal investigatorfor the trials.

　　“PRO2000是经过10年研究之后首次提示杀微生物剂产品用于预防艾滋病是可行的，”南非医学研究理事会艾滋病预防部门的主任、这项实验的研究组长Gita Ramjee说。

　　"For the first time there is hope that one day we will have afemale-initiated option for HIV prevention. It is a huge step for microbicidesand prevention ... and for the empowerment of women," she said.

　　“这是首次出现一种希望，即有朝一日我们将拥有一种由女性主导的预防艾滋病的选择。这对于杀微生物剂和预防……以及女性的独立自主是巨大的一步。”

　　"We do not have a proven microbicide," said University of KwaZulu-Natalprofessor Salim Karim, who presented the study findings at the 16th Conferenceon Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, in Montreal, Canada, yesterday.

　　“我们没有一种已经被证明的杀微生物剂，”夸祖鲁-纳塔尔大学的教授SalimKarim说。Karim昨天在加拿大蒙特利尔举行的第16届逆转录病毒和机会感染会议上公布了该研究的发现。

　　"What we have is something that looks positive."

　　“我们拥有的是看上去有希望的东西。”

　　Researchers now await the results of a larger PRO 2000 study beingconducted by the British Medical Research Council, whose results are due inDecember 2009.

　　如今科学家正在等待由英国医学研究理事会进行的一场更大规模的PRO 2000研究，其结果将于2009年12月公布。