Micronucleated erythrocytes in newborn rats exposed to raltegravir placental transfer

The use of raltegravir in treating HIV/AIDS has been proposed due to its effectiveness in suppressing high loads of HIV RNA in pregnant women, thus preventing infection of the fetus. However, administration of raltegravir during pregnancy produces a compound which is transferred to high concentrations to the offspring. The objective of this study is to evaluate the transplacental genotoxic effect of raltegravir in newborn rats. We evaluated the number of micronucleated erythrocytes (MNE), micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (MNPCE), and polychromatic erythrocytes (PCE) in the peripheral blood samples of the offspring of Wistar rats treated 6 days before birth with oral administration of raltegravir. The animals were randomly assigned to five groups as follows: raltegravir at doses of 15, 30, or 60 mg/day, cyclophosphamide 10 mg/kg (positive control), or 0.5 ml of sterile water (negative control). In addition, the effect of these drugs on the weight and height of newborns was assessed. There were no differences in the number of MNE, MNPCE, and PCE, and a slight decrease in the weight and height was observed in the offspring of the rat mothers treated with raltegravir. Genotoxicity studies are required in pregnant women to determine the risk of using raltegravir to the fetuses.