The Effect of Antiretroviral Therapy on Placenta Size and Fetal Development

HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, is a virus that targets the human body’s immune system and weakens it so that it struggles to defend against other pathogens designed to harm the body. In order to enhance immune health and decrease the transmission of HIV, patients who have HIV are treated with antiretroviral therapy, or ART, a treatment that seeks to reduce the replication of HIV by disrupting a specific portion of the HIV replication cycle. However, while it does reduce the vertical transmission of HIV between mother and fetus, the use of antiretroviral therapy during pregnancy can have adverse impacts on the size of the placenta and the development of the fetus. Through the study of various research papers, a distinct connection between the use of antiretroviral therapy and the placenta size and fetal development was made. Analyzing the placenta and birth characteristics of fetuses from both women with and without HIV, overall the placentas of mothers with HIV taking ART drugs had smaller diameters, weights, and areas, along with an irregular shape, than mothers without HIV; the fetuses of mothers with HIV taking ART drugs had smaller weights at birth, weeks gestation at birth, and birth weight centile than fetuses of mothers without HIV. Exploring the impacts of antiretroviral therapy on placenta size and fetal development, this comprehensive research aims to assist researchers in creating safer and improved antiretroviral drugs to treat mothers with HIV that promote both the health of the mother and the development of the child.