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No evidence of problems with pregnancies or children born to women taking the anti-retroviral drug tenofovir
No evidence of problems with pregnancies or children
born to women taking the anti-retroviral drug
tenofovir
16 May 2012
The anti-retroviral drug tenofovir does not seem to have
negative effects on pregnancy outcomes or the health of children,
when taken by pregnant women, compared to other anti-retroviral
drugs. The research, published in the journal PLoS Medicine,
followed children born to women who were part of the DART
trial.
Tenofovir is a drug that is used in combination with other drugs to
combat HIV. It is becoming more commonly used, and is recommended
in World Health Organisation guidelines. There were concerns that
it might cause problems with birth defects, renal function, bone
strength and growth if taken during pregnancy. But little has been
known about what effect it actually has on pregnancies and children
born to women who take it.
The DART trial was a large randomised controlled trial that took
place in Uganda and Zimbabwe, comparing different approaches for
monitoring anti-retroviral therapy. As part of the trial
researchers collected data on any pregnancies of women taking part,
and which drugs they received.
Researchers found no difference in the outcomes of pregnancies
among women who took tenofovir with those who took other
anti-retroviral drugs. They also followed up the 226 children born
to these women for up to four years. None of the children tested
for HIV had the disease. Tenofovir did not increase the rate of
birth defects, prematurity or renal impairment, and no broken bones
were reported. Tenofovir did not lead to lower birth weight or
growth. The weights and heights of children in the study were
similar to that of other HIV-uninfected children in Uganda.
These findings are encouraging, as no evidence was found that
tenofovir had any negative effects on pregnancy outcomes or the
children born to women who took the drug. However, the number of
pregnancies and children observed in this study is quite small, and
women were not randomly allocated to which drugs they received, so
there may be some bias.
The findings of this study suggest that tenofovir is a reasonable
anti-retroviral drug for women who may become pregnant while taking
it. This is good news, as it is being used increasingly. The
findings are timely given the FDA’s decision to approve the use of
Truvada (which contains tenofovir) to help prevent the disease
among HIV-negative people who are at high risk of being
infected.
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