title: Maternal HIV-1 DNA load and mother-to-child transmission.
abstract: While many factors contribute to mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV-1, maternal plasma HIV-1 RNA viral load (RNA-VL) has been consistently found as the main risk factor, including when antiretroviral prophylaxis was used to prevent MTCT. However the predictive value of RNA-VL is poor. A recent study of HIV-1-positive pregnant women who did not receive antiretroviral prophylaxis reported an association between HIV-1 DNA viral load (DNA-VL) and MTCT that was stronger than the association between RNA-VL and MTCT. We sought to determine if HIV-1 DNA-VL was independently associated with MTCT of HIV in a population of women who received zidovudine prophylaxis during pregnancy and whose infants received zidovudine after birth. Patients were 33 non-breastfeeding transmitting (TR) and 33 nontransmitting mothers (NTR) from Perinatal HIV Prevention Trial (PHPT-1), a multicenter clinical trial conducted in Thailand comparing zidovudine prophylaxis durations to prevent MTCT. TR and NTR mothers were matched according to baseline RNA-VL. Maternal peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC)-associated HIV-1 DNA was extracted from whole blood, and DNA-VL was established by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. We found that TR had a significantly higher cell-associated HIV-1 DNA viral load than did NTR. Median TR DNA-VL was 2.54 log(10) copies per microgram PBMC DNA, while it was 2.28 log(10) copies per microgram PBMC DNA in NTR (Wilcoxon p = 0.02). In summary, HIV-1 DNA viral load was associated with MTCT in a population of women who received antiretroviral prophylaxis during pregnancy, independently from RNA viral load.
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. narvold@partners.org
authors.forename: Nils D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Arvold
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ngo-Giang-Huong
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McIntosh
authors.forename: Veera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Suraseranivong
authors.forename: Boonyarat
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Warachit
authors.forename: Surachai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Piyaworawong
authors.forename: Tikamporn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Changchit
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lallemant
authors.forename: Gonzague
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jourdain
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission*; D015497:HIV-1; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D013785:Thailand; D019562:Viral Load; D015215:Zidovudine / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D004279:DNA, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral; D015215:Zidovudine