{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T06:14:43Z","timestamp":1790662483175,"version":"4.1.0"},"update-to":[{"DOI":"10.1371\/journal.ppat.1013594","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]],"date-time":"2025-10-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1760486400000}}],"reference-count":115,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1760054400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000925","name":"National Health and Medical Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["102894"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["102894"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000925","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000925","name":"National Health and Medical Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["543105"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["543105"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000925","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001779","name":"Monash University)","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["Australian Postgraduate Award and a Postgraduate Publications Award"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Australian Postgraduate Award and a Postgraduate Publications Award"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001779","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plospathogens.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS Pathog"],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Vaginal microbiota modulates susceptibility to sexually transmitted infections and produces carboxylic acid metabolites that have antimicrobial activity; however, their activity against viral sexually transmitted infections is not well defined. We determined the HIV-1 virucidal activity of lactic acid (LA), short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and succinic acid, representing conditions observed in women with an optimal\n                    <jats:italic>\n                      <jats:italic>Lactobacillus<\/jats:italic>\n                    <\/jats:italic>\n                    -dominated vaginal microbiota compared to women with bacterial vaginosis. Virucidal activity against enveloped HIV-1 and HSV-2, the non-enveloped HPV16, and the mechanism by which LA inactivates HIV-1 was further assessed. LA was\u2009&gt;\u200910-fold more potent at inactivating an HIV-1 transmitted\/founder strain than SCFAs and succinic acid when tested at an equivalent 20\u2009 mM of protonated acid (p\u22640.05). While LA decreased HIV-1 infectivity by &gt;10\n                    <jats:sup>3<\/jats:sup>\n                    -fold, virions were intact, expressed a similar gp120:p24 ratio, and showed only a 2-fold decrease in CD4 binding compared to untreated HIV-1 (p\u22640.05). Treatment of recombinant gp120 with LA revealed no major conformational changes by small angle X-ray scattering. LA treatment of HIV-1 resulted in an 80% decrease in virion-associated reverse transcriptase activity compared to untreated virus (p\u2009&lt;\u20090.01), which was more potent than acetic acid or HCl-adjusted media at the same pH, with this effect observed in the presence of cervicovaginal fluid. LA decreased HIV-1 virion-associated RNA levels by \u223c50% compared to untreated virus (p\u2009&lt;\u20090.001), acetic acid or HCl acidified media. In contrast, HSV-2 virucidal activity of LA was similar to acetic acid and HCl-acidified media while HPV16 was acid-resistant. Our results demonstrate LA\u2019s potent and specific HIV-1 virucidal activity compared to SCFAs and succinic acid found in the female reproductive tract, and its HIV-1 virucidal mechanism mediated by penetration of the viral membrane and core to target a key viral enzyme and nucleic acid. These findings have implications for the vaginal transmission of HIV to partners and neonates during birth.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.ppat.1013594","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T17:37:39Z","timestamp":1760117859000},"page":"e1013594","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.ppat.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Lactic acid produced by optimal vaginal Lactobacillus spp. potently and specifically inactivates HIV-1 in vitro by targeting the viral RNA genome and reverse transcriptase"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Muriel","family":"Aldunate","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Tyssen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adam","family":"Johnson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Catherine F.","family":"Latham","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paula","family":"Ellenberg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nathan","family":"Cowieson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joshua A.","family":"Hayward","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rob J.","family":"Center","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paul A.","family":"Ramsland","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anna C.","family":"Hearps","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7733-7037","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Gilda","family":"Tachedjian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]]},"reference":[{"issue":"2","key":"ppat.1013594.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"118","DOI":"10.1016\/S1473-3099(09)70021-0","article-title":"Heterosexual risk of HIV-1 infection per sexual act: systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies","volume":"9","author":"M-C Boily","year":"2009","journal-title":"Lancet 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