Scientists at Prince Henry’s Institute, a leading Australian hormone research institute, have discovered a target for a new female contraceptive that may also reduce HIV infection.

“This research has significant implications for improving contraceptive choice and health care delivery for women around the globe,” said Dr Guiying Nie, a senior researcher involved in the study.

Currently there are no effective female contraceptive methods that will prevent pregnancy and the sexual transmission of HIV. Hence there is an urgent need for a contraceptive that will have a dual role for women.

In an Australia context, there is also an identified need for additional contraceptive choices for women, as some cannot tolerate hormonally-based contraceptives and others would prefer contraception that can be used on an occasional basis.

For the past five years, scientists at the Prince Henry’s Institute have been part of an International WHO-Rockefeller Initiative searching for molecules that are essential for implantation and thus could provide targets for contraception.

The research discovery shows that the molecule PC6 (proprotein convertase 6) is a critical maternal factor for embryo implantation in mice.

The “proof of principle” established that when the molecule is blocked in the mouse uterus, implantation is prevented. Importantly the same molecule has been linked with HIV infection.

The team is now working with a pharmaceutical company to develop the research further.

The research was published in the April 2005 issue of Biology of Reproduction, one of the top ranked scientific journals in the field of reproduction.

Prince Henry’s Institute is one of only two Institutes in Australia that is a WHO Collaborating Centre for Research in Human Reproduction.