Maternal combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) successfully prevents HIV mother-to-child transmission but also causes hematological toxicity in the HIV-exposed uninfected (HEU) infant. We performed a single-center prospective observational study. Hematological toxicity during the first year of life (at 3 and 6 weeks, and 3, 6, and 12 months) was compared between HEU infants born in two different time periods: P1 (2000-2001) and P2 (2007-2013). Mother-infant pairs in P1 (n = 55) and P2 (n = 48) mainly differed in maternal ethnic origin, HIV route of transmission, and cART regimens. Anemia and neutropenia were both less common in P2 than P1, albeit not significantly. Earlier normalization of red blood cell mean corpuscular volume levels in P2 infants suggests that current cART maternal regimens and shorter neonatal prophylaxis are less toxic. Leukocyte, lymphocyte, and platelet counts remained within normal values during follow-up, without differences between groups.
Conclusion: New cART regimens have had very little impact on the hematological toxicity in HEU infants.
What is known: • Antiretroviral drugs during pregnancy and the neonatal period very effectively prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV infection. • Hematological toxicity has been widely reported among HIV-exposed uninfected children. What is New: • In HIV-exposed uninfected children, hematological toxicity is still mainly caused by exposure to zidovudine. • New antiretroviral drugs have very little impact on hematological toxicity among HIV-exposed uninfected children.
Keywords: Anemia; Antiretrovirals; HIV-exposed uninfected infant; Hematological toxicity; Mother-to-child transmission.