Inpharma 1488 - 21 May 2005

■ In utero exposure to combination antiretroviraltherapy may be associated with elevated insulin levelsin the neonate, according to the results of aprospective cohort study. The study comprisedwomen who received zidovudine (n = 20),zidovudine, lamivudine and nelfinavir (25) or noantiretroviral treatment (controls; 12) duringpregnancy. The median insulin level among neonatesin the triple therapy group was 2.9 (range 1.8–4.8)compared with 4.8 (0.8–9) in the zidovudine groupand 6.5 (3–9.5) in the control group. The studyresearchers say that these results may suggest "anearly damaging effect of the antiretroviral drugs on fetalpancreatic function".El Beitune P, et al. Effect of maternal use of antiretroviral agents on seruminsulin levels of the newborn infant. Diabetes Care 28: 856-859, No. 4, Apr2005 801009781

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Inpharma 21 May 2005 No. 14881173-8324/10/1488-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved