The influence of pregnancy on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection: antepartum and postpartum changes in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 viral load.
OBJECTIVE
Our objective was to examine the influence of pregnancy on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 viral load by measuring human immunodeficiency virus type 1 ribonucleic acid levels during pregnancy and post partum.


METHODS
One or more plasma or serum specimens obtained before and during the third trimester, and at 2, 12, and 24 months post partum were available for 160 human immunodeficiency virus type 1-seropositive women enrolled in the Mothers and Infants Cohort Study between January 1986 and January 1991. All specimens were frozen and stored at -70 degrees C until analyzed in batch for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 ribonucleic acid by polymerase chain reaction. A multivariate longitudinal random effects model was developed to examine changes in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 ribonucleic acid levels over time.


RESULTS
Overall, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 ribonucleic acid levels rose significantly during the study period, particularly during the second year post partum (mean, 0.09 log per year; 95% confidence interval, 0.03 to 0.15 logs per year; p = 0.005). However, the mean slope during pregnancy was not significantly different from zero (p = 0.65).


CONCLUSIONS
Pregnancy had little immediate effect on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 viral load in most human immunodeficiency virus type 1-seropositive women.
Burns
D N
DN
Pediatric, Adolescent, and Maternal AIDS Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD 20892-7510, USA.
Landesman
S
S
Minkoff
H
H
Wright
D J
DJ
Waters
D
D
Mitchell
R M
RM
Rubinstein
A
A
Willoughby
A
A
Goedert
J J
JJ
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000821:virology*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D019562:Viral Load
D012367:RNA, Viral