A review of nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor use to prevent perinatal transmission of HIV.

Worldwide, women comprise > 50% of all people living with HIV and the vast majority of these women are of childbearing age. In fact, a significant proportion of these women are identified as HIV-infected during pregnancy. Preventing perinatal transmission has been one of the greatest prevention successes of the HIV epidemic with < 2% of live births resulting in an HIV-infected infant. The strategic use of combination antiretroviral therapy has been a critical component of this reduction. With more antiretroviral agents available for HIV, the appropriate selection of therapy is often based on provider familiarity with the various agents. Although benefits of antiretroviral use in pregnancy tremendously outweigh the risks, concerns regarding short- and long-term toxicity in mothers and their children, in addition to the risk of the development of HIV resistance, remain subjects of discussion. The choice of antiretroviral 'backbone' is supported by extensive data showing efficacy in the prevention of HIV vertical transmission. Co-formulated zidovudine/lamivudine is the most commonly used combination in pregnancy. Long-term consequences of in utero exposure to antiretroviral agents are not fully understood. In this article, we review the data regarding nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors with a focus on tenofovir.