HIV Drug Used To Prevent Perinatal Transmission Can Cause Developmental Defects

Almost 90 percent of 15,000 children in the United States who were tested positive of HIV were said to be infected through perinatal transmission. That's why in order to lessen the risk of HIV transmission during pregnancy, future moms are advised to take this drug -- the antiretroviral (ARV) drug atazanavir.

But a recent study published in the journal AIDS, the official journal of the International AIDS Society, showed how the HIV drug can negatively affect the embryo's development, as reported by the Medical Xpress. According to the journal which was published by Wolters Kluwer, the effect might be unnoticeable at first but it creates a significant effect as the child becomes a toddler.

The study was conducted with almost 1,000 infants who were born without the disease despite having HIV-positive mothers, as posted by Science World Report. All of these mothers were under ARV medication during the whole part of their pregnancy.

Dr. Ellen C. Caniglia, ScD, of Harvard T.J. Chan School of Public Health and colleagues highlighted that as to the research, it's the atazanavir that creates the behavioral abnormalities of the child and not the entire ARV medication. "One-year-olds whose mothers took atazanavir during pregnancy have slightly reduced scores for language and social-emotional development, compared to ARV regimens not containing atazanavir," the research findings stated.

Further studies are yet to be conducted to prove whether the atazanavir, a protease inhibitor, can still affect children over one year old. The researchers are also looking forward to find out whether there are still other drugs along with atazanavir which can contribute to the problem.

The researchers believe that the information they can get through their research can create a huge difference in treating pregnant women while creating a better future for their babies. "These results may be useful in treatment planning for women with HIV infection," the researchers concluded.