title: Effect of pregnancy and zidovudine therapy on viral load in HIV-1-infected women.
abstract: The objective of this study was to determine the effect of pregnancy and zidovudine (ZDV) on viral load in HIV-1 infected women. A prospective nonrandomized cohort study was conducted at a university medical center and affiliated clinic and included 44 HIV-1-seropositive pregnant women seen between June 1991 and September 1995. Twenty-three women initiated ZDV therapy during their pregnancy. Seventeen women did not take antiretrovirals, and four women took ZDV prior to and throughout pregnancy. HIV-1 viral load as determined by quantitative peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) culture and quantitative plasma RNA levels was measured at various times during pregnancy and in the postpartum period. HIV-1 load, by both infectivity and RNA levels, was relatively low and remained stable during pregnancy and through 6 weeks post partum. Initiation of ZDV therapy during pregnancy did not result in a significant decrease in viral load at delivery when controlling for the effect of pregnancy. In those women who received ZDV therapy only during pregnancy, there was a trend toward an increase in viral load measured by PBMC infectivity 6 months post partum compared with the levels before the initiation of ZDV. Mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1 occurred in one of 27 (4%) ZDV-treated women and in two of 16 (12.5%) untreated women. Among HIV-1-infected pregnant women with low viral levels, HIV-1 plasma RNA and infectivity remained stable during and after gestation. Although these results are based on a relatively small number of women and should be considered preliminary, the lack of significant ZDV-associated diminution in viral levels suggests that the protective effect of ZDV on the mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1 may not be due to the reduction in maternal viral levels but, by inference, may be due to the prevention of HIV-1 reverse transcription in the newborn.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, U.S.A.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Melvin
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Burchett
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Watts
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hitti
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: McLellan
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Frenkel
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Coombs
mesh_terms: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000635:transmission; D015497:HIV-1; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D019562:Viral Load; D014776:Virus Cultivation; D014861:Washington; D015215:Zidovudine / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D012367:RNA, Viral; D015215:Zidovudine