# The effect of HIV and cocaine abuse on semen exosome composition and function

> **NIH NIH R01** · STATE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK STONY BROOK · 2020 · $536,562

## Abstract

Abstract
The AIDS pandemic remains a significant global problem with over 33.3 million persons currently
infected with HIV and HIV-related illnesses claiming the lives of over 1.8 million individuals annually.
Various studies have suggested a link between abuse of illicit drugs, including cocaine and increased
risk of HIV transmission, accelerated HIV disease progression, and AIDS-related mortality. Women
represent the fastest growing population of new HIV cases. It is estimated that more than 80% of HIV
cases result from sexual transmission and semen is the primary vector. However, only about 0.1% of
acts of heterosexual coitus with an infected individual result in HIV infection, suggesting that factors
contained in semen may modulate the infectivity or fitness of HIV particles in semen. The underlying
mechanisms of HIV transmission are not well understood. In spite of the progress in studies of HIV
pathogenesis and the ability of various agents to suppress virus infection, methods to prevent HIV
transmission still require more investigation. Recently, we showed that semen of healthy donors
contain heterologous populations of exosomes that are morphologically distinct with respect to size
and electron density. These exosomes contain different species of RNA (mRNA and small RNA), and
inhibit infection with HIV. Our preliminary data reveal that similar to exosomes from the semen of
healthy donors, exosomes purified from HIV infected donors potently block HIV infection while
exosomes from HIV infected donors who use cocaine do not inhibit HIV. Our preliminary study further
showed that HIV infection and cocaine use modulates RNA composition of semen exosomes.
Importantly, lysed semen exosomes from both HIV negative and HIV infected donors but not donors
who used cocaine inhibit reverse transcription of lysed HIV in a cell-free system, block the synthesis of
HIV U5 DNA, and reverse transcription of U5 to Gag. These data indicate direct effect of semen
exosomes on HIV reverse transcription. In this application, studies are designed to 1) determine the
effect of HIV infection and cocaine abuse on the anti-HIV activity of semen exosomes, 2) determine
the mechanisms of anti-HIV effect of semen exosomes, and 3) characterize the effects of donor HIV
status and cocaine use on semen exosome composition. As sexual transmission is the main route for
the spread of HIV and semen is the primary vector, the studies proposed in this application will
address a new challenge for evaluation of the efficacy of semen exosomes as a protective factor
against HIV and how donor HIV status and cocaine use modulate this function.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9978787
- **Project number:** 5R01DA042348-06
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK STONY BROOK
- **Principal Investigator:** Chioma M Okeoma
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $536,562
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-12-01 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9978787

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9978787, The effect of HIV and cocaine abuse on semen exosome composition and function (5R01DA042348-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9978787. Licensed CC0.

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