No association between early antiretroviral therapy during pregnancy and plasma levels of angiogenic factors: a cohort study

Background Early antiretroviral therapy (ART) during pregnancy has dramatically reduced the risk of perinatal HIV transmission. However, studies have shown an association between premature delivery and the use of ART during pregnancy (particularly protease inhibitor (PI)-based therapies), which could be explained by placental dysfunction. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of ART (class, duration of exposure and time of initiation) with placental function by using angiogenic factors placental growth factor (PlGF) and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) as biomarkers.