Development and evaluation of microbicidal hydrogels containing monoglyceride as the active ingredient.

A number of medium-chain saturated and long-chain unsaturated fatty acids and their monoglycerides were tested against herpes simplex virus (HSV-1) to determine which lipids were most active during a short incubation time. The aim was to find which lipid would be preferable as the active ingredient in a virucidal hydrogel formulation for the purpose of preventing transmission of pathogens to mucosal membranes, particularly sexually transmitted viruses, such as herpes simplex virus and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and bacteria, such as Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrheae. The main strategy was that the formulations would be fast-acting, killing large numbers of virus or bacteria on contact in a short time, preferably causing at least a 10000-fold reduction in virus/bacteria titer in 1-5 min. Monocaprin, the 1-monoglyceride of capric acid, and lauric acid were found to be most active of all the lipids tested, causing a greater than 100000-fold reduction in virus titer in 1 min at a concentration of 20 mM. When tested at a concentration of 10 mM for 1 min, monocaprin was still fully active whereas lauric acid had no or negligible activity. It was concluded that monocaprin was most suitable as the active ingredient in a fast-acting virucidal gel formulation, and several hydrogel formulations containing monocaprin were tested. Formulations where the monoglyceride was dissolved in glycofurol were found to be active against HSV-1. The hydrogel formulations containing 20 mM monocaprin were highly virucidal in vitro and caused a greater than 100000-fold (HSV-1) inactivation of virus in human semen in 1 min. Formulations in dilution 1:10 were cytotoxic in monolayers of CV-1 cells, but they were 10-100 fold less cytotoxic than a commercial product which contains 2% nonoxynol-9.