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ABSTRACT: Background
It has been reported that pregnant women receiving protease inhibitor (PI)-based combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) have lower levels of progesterone, which put them at risk of adverse birth outcomes, such as low birth weight. We sought to understand the mechanisms involved in this decline in progesterone level.Methods
We assessed plasma levels of progesterone, prolactin, and lipids and placental expression of genes involved in progesterone metabolism in 42 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected and 31 HIV-uninfected pregnant women. In vitro studies and a mouse pregnancy model were used to delineate the effect of HIV from that of PI-based cART on progesterone metabolism.Results
HIV-infected pregnant women receiving PI-based cART showed a reduction in plasma progesterone levels (P= .026) and an elevation in placental expression of the progesterone inactivating enzyme 20-α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (20α-HSD; median, 2.5 arbitrary units [AU]; interquartile range [IQR], 1.00-4.10 AU), compared with controls (median, 0.89 AU; IQR, 0.66-1.26 AU;P= .002). Prolactin, a key regulator of 20α-HSD, was lower (P= .012) in HIV-infected pregnant women. We observed similar data in pregnant mice exposed to PI-based cART. In vitro inhibition of 20α-HSD activity in trophoblast cells reversed PI-based cART-induced decreases in progesterone levels.Conclusions
Our data suggest that the decrease in progesterone levels observed in HIV-infected pregnant women exposed to PI-based cART is caused, at least in part, by an increase in placental expression of 20α-HSD, which may be due to lower prolactin levels observed in these women.
SUBMITTER: Papp E
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4837912 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Papp Eszter E Balogun Kayode K Banko Nicole N Mohammadi Hakimeh H Loutfy Mona M Yudin Mark H MH Shah Rajiv R MacGillivray Jay J Murphy Kellie E KE Walmsley Sharon L SL Silverman Michael M Serghides Lena L
The Journal of infectious diseases 20160105 10
<h4>Background</h4>It has been reported that pregnant women receiving protease inhibitor (PI)-based combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) have lower levels of progesterone, which put them at risk of adverse birth outcomes, such as low birth weight. We sought to understand the mechanisms involved in this decline in progesterone level.<h4>Methods</h4>We assessed plasma levels of progesterone, prolactin, and lipids and placental expression of genes involved in progesterone metabolism in 42 huma ...[more]