Mitochondrial toxicity in fetal Erythrocebus patas monkeys exposed transplacentally to zidovudine plus lamivudine.

This study was designed to investigate fetal mitochondrial toxicity in Erythrocebus patas monkeys exposed in utero to zidovudine (AZT) and lamivudine (3TC), and taken at term. Pregnant patas monkeys were given a daily dose of 40 mg AZT (86% of the human daily dose, based on body weight), for the last 10 weeks (50%) of gestation, and a daily dose of 24 mg 3TC (84% of the human daily dose, based on body weight) for the last 4 weeks of gestation. At term, AZT was found to be incorporated into fetal mitochondrial DNA from skeletal muscle, liver, kidney, and placenta.