Oral Presentations - Pathology and Laboratory Medicine - University ...

Graduate StudentTuhina Imam 1 , Hugo Soudeyns 4 , Normand Lapointe 4 , Marissa Jitratkosol 1 ,Beheroze Sattha 1 , Johanne Samson 4 , Tessa Chaworth-Musters 3 , John Forbes 2,3 ,Deborah Money 1,2 and Hélène Côté* 1,21Univ of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, 2 Women`s Health Research Institute,Vancouver, Canada, 3 Children`s and Women`s Health Centre of BC, Vancouver, BC, Canada,4Centre de Recherche du CHU Ste-Justine, Montreal, QC, CanadaAbstract # 36Tuhina Imamperipheral blood telomere length in infants and theirHIV-infected mothers treated with antiretroviraltherapy during pregnancyBackround/ObjectivesZidovudine (ZDV) is routinely used in antiretroviral therapy (ART) during HIV pregnancy, to prevent verticaltransmission. ZDV inhibits telomerase, the enzyme responsible for telomere elongation. We hypothesized that bloodaverage telomere length (ATL) would be shorter in ART-exposed mothers and their infants compared to those whowere untreated.MethodsThis retrospective cohort spanning 1990-2000 included HIV-infected pregnant women who were untreated, ortreated with mono-, dual- or triple-therapy during their pregnancy. Maternal and infant dried blood spots (DBS) werecollected at the last visit before delivery and at 0-6 weeks, respectively. DBS relative ATL was measured by qPCR.ATL were compared between treated and untreated mothers and infants using ANCOVA. Covariates included:maternal age, gestational age, smoking and recreational drug use. In linear regression analyses, additional possiblepredictors considered included, ART pre-pregnancy, duration of ART in pregnancy, maternal CD4 and pVL (plasmaviral load) at last pre-delivery visit (when available) and age of infant at time of sample (infant ATL only).ResultsInfant ATL measured at a median [IQR] 1 [1-4] days of age were longer than maternal ATL (p