HIV-positive pregnant women are advised to take a drug regimen—commonly referred to as combination antiretroviral therapy (cART)—to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the virus. Unfortunately, these antiretroviral regimens are often associated with a number of adverse birth outcomes, including preterm delivery and low birth weight.
Dr. Lena Serghides is an expert in studying the effects of antiretroviral therapy on pregnant women and their babies.
To examine the effects of these treatments, Dr. Serghides and her team measured the levels of several different hormones in pregnant women, before and after they were randomly assigned to take two different cART regimens.
The team found that levels of the hormone, estradiol, were decreased with one type of cART regimen and increased with the other. These changes were linked to significantly lower birth weight, suggesting that hormonal changes may contribute to the cART-associated fetal growth restriction.
“The cART regimens that were used both prevent the virus from replicating, but target the virus through different mechanisms,” says Dr. Serghides. “The results of our study underscore the need for more research on the long-term effects of these regimens as they may affect fetal development by differentially altering hormone levels.”