Cardiometabolic Health of Children Exposed to Anti-retroviral Therapy (ART) in Utero

Plain-language summary

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has been recently linked to increased risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and its risk factor, hypertension, are very high in African communities especially in the working age group which also happens to have the bulk of young female adults in the reproductive age. Hypertension in African children is becoming a real cause for concern though its etiology remains elusive. Thanks to antiretroviral therapy (ART) use, many more infected persons live long enough to reproduce, consequently, an increasing number of children are being born to mothers who are infected with HIV. Could it be that in utero exposure of these children to HIV/ART contribute in programming them for increased risk for cardiovascular diseases thus making them more vulnerable to hypertension in childhood and adulthood? This study is aimed at exploring the possible association of in utero exposure to the HIV/ART environment and an increased risk for cardiovascular disease.

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