Flavonoid Antioxidant Embedded Solid Hydropolymer Condom

Mahua Choudhury of Texas A&M Health Science Center in the U.S. will develop low-cost male condoms from a strong and highly elastic three-dimensional hydropolymer (hydrogel) embedded with an antioxidant to enhance sexual experience and help prevent HIV transmission. Antioxidants such as quercetin act as stimulants that could enhance feelings of pleasure by promoting smooth muscle relaxation, increasing arterial blood flow, and maintaining nitric oxide levels, which helps to stimulate and maintain erection, and they also have anti-HIV activity. They will develop methods to produce a hydrogel that can protect against STD transmission and unwanted pregnancies, and that can be easily coupled to quercetin. Future work will evaluate the safety and performance of these hydrogel condoms.