Hormonal therapy may reduce the effectiveness of PrEP among transgender women

Fear of side effects on the background of the interaction of feminizing hormone therapy and PrEP can cause transgender women to refuse pre-exposure HIV prevention, experts said at the 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018).

The iFACT study in Thailand examined the use of PrEP in 20 transsexuals who had not undergone orchiectomy (removal of the testicles) and had not received injectable feminizing hormone therapy for six months.

According to the profile of iFACT, a group of volunteers started taking this therapy, and in three weeks all participants in the study were offered PrEP.

Akarin Hiransutikul of the Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Center reported that the results of the study showed a lower effect of tenofovir on HIV in the presence of feminizing hormone therapy.

These data, he stressed, indicate that feminizing hormonal therapy can affect the effectiveness of PrEP among transgender women.

Nevertheless, he said, further research is needed to determine if the results are clinically significant.