Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Clinical Trial
. 2009 Aug 7:9:49.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2431-9-49.

Selected hematologic and biochemical measurements in African HIV-infected and uninfected pregnant women and their infants: the HIV Prevention Trials Network 024 protocol

Kasonde Mwinga  1 , Sten H Vermund, Ying Q Chen, Anthony Mwatha, Jennifer S Read, Willy Urassa, Nicole Carpenetti, Megan Valentine, Robert L Goldenberg
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Selected hematologic and biochemical measurements in African HIV-infected and uninfected pregnant women and their infants: the HIV Prevention Trials Network 024 protocol

Kasonde Mwinga et al. BMC Pediatr. .

Abstract

Background: Reference values for hematological and biochemical assays in pregnant women and in newborn infants are based primarily on Caucasian populations. Normative data are limited for populations in sub-Saharan Africa, especially comparing women with and without HIV infection, and comparing infants with and without HIV infection or HIV exposure.

Methods: We determined HIV status and selected hematological and biochemical measurements in women at 20-24 weeks and at 36 weeks gestation, and in infants at birth and 4-6 weeks of age. All were recruited within a randomized clinical trial of antibiotics to prevent chorioamnionitis-associated mother-to-child transmission of HIV (HPTN024). We report nearly complete laboratory data on 2,292 HIV-infected and 367 HIV-uninfected pregnant African women who were representative of the public clinics from which the women were recruited. Nearly all the HIV-infected mothers received nevirapine prophylaxis at the time of labor, as did their infants after birth (always within 72 hours of birth, but typically within just a few hours at the four study sites in Malawi (2 sites), Tanzania, and Zambia.

Results: HIV-infected pregnant women had lower red blood cell counts, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and white blood cell counts than HIV-uninfected women. Platelet and monocyte counts were higher among HIV-infected women at both time points. At the 4-6-week visit, HIV-infected infants had lower hemoglobin, hematocrit and white blood cell counts than uninfected infants. Platelet counts were lower in HIV-infected infants than HIV-uninfected infants, both at birth and at 4-6 weeks of age. At 4-6 weeks, HIV-infected infants had higher alanine aminotransferase measures than uninfected infants.

Conclusion: Normative data in pregnant African women and their newborn infants are needed to guide the large-scale HIV care and treatment programs being scaled up throughout the continent. These laboratory measures will help interpret clinical data and assist in patient monitoring in a sub-Saharan Africa context.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00021671.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Patient recruitment and retention for the HIV Prevention Trials Network 024 randomized clinical trial protocol in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Beers MH, Porter RS, Jones TV, Kaplan JL, Berkwits M. Approach to the patient with anemia: Hematology and Oncologyin the Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy. 18. Chapter 3. Merck Research Laboratories, Division of Merck & Co., Inc. Whitehouse Station NJ; 2006. pp. 1031–1033.
    1. Mukiibi JM, Mtimavalye LAR, Broadhead R, et al. Some hematological parameters in Malawian neonates. East Afr Med J. 1995;72:10–14. - PubMed
    1. Miller MF, Stoltzfus RJ, Iliff PJ, et al. Effect of maternal and neonatal vitamin A supplementation and other postnatal factors on anemia in Zimbabwean infants: a prospective, randomized study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006;84:212–222. - PubMed
    1. Quintó L, Aponte JJ, Sacarlal J, et al. Hematological and biochemical indices in young African children: in search of reference intervals. Trop Med Int Health. 2006;11:1741–1748. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3156.2006.01764.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fleming AF, Harrison KA. Leukocyte counts during pregnancy and the puerperium and at birth in Nigerians. East Afr Med J. 1985;62:175–184. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Associated data