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Published on: September 6, 2019
Maternal HIV-1 RNA serum levels at delivery and vertical transmission in Uganda
J B Jackson1, D Hom, E Piwowar
1Institute of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
Objective:
To evaluate the clinical utility of maternal HIV-1 RNA serum levels at delivery in predicting the rate of HIV-1 vertical transmission.
Design And Methods:
HIV-1 RNA levels were determined by the Roche Amplicor Monitor assay in serum specimens collected at the time of delivery from 94 transmitting and 107 nontransmitting infected mothers and 12 seronegative mothers in Uganda. Nonparametric Wilcoxon-Rank sum tests were used to identify significant differences in medians and RNA level distributions by transmission status.
Results:
Mean HIV-1 RNA copies/mL for transmitters was 3419 +/- 7489 copies/mL versus 2483 +/- 8954 copies/mL for nontransmitters. There was a significant difference in medians and HIV-1 RNA serum level distributions between transmitting and nontransmitting mothers (p = 0.0039). However, the predictive value for any given HIV-1 RNA level for HIV-1 vertical transmission was poor.
Conclusion:
Maternal HIV-1 RNA serum levels at delivery are significantly higher in transmitting mothers versus nontransmitting mothers, but appear to be of limited value in predicting HIV-1 vertical transmission using the Roche Amplicor Monitor assay in Uganda.
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