Over 27 million people worldwide currently receive daily antiretroviral therapy for the management of HIV/AIDS. In order to prevent the continued spread of HIV, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the use of highly active antiretroviral therapy by pregnant and nursing women. There is currently little research into the auditory effects of this therapy on children exposed during pregnancy and breastfeeding, and research to date on the direct effects of antiretroviral exposure on the auditory system is inconclusive. The current study examined the effects of WHO-recommended first-line antiretrovirals in a well-controlled animal model to evaluate the potential for auditory damage and dysfunction following these exposures. Female breeding mice were each exposed to one of four antiretroviral cocktails or a vehicle control once daily during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Offspring of these mice had their auditory status evaluated after weaning using auditory brainstem responses and distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs). Auditory brainstem response thresholds following antiretroviral exposure during gestation and breastfeeding showed elevated thresholds and increased wave latencies in offspring of exposed mice when compared to unexposed controls, but no corresponding decrease in DPOAE amplitude. These differences in threshold were small and so may explain the lack of identified hearing loss in antiretroviral-exposed children during hearing screenings at birth. Minimal degrees of hearing impairment in children have been correlated with decreased academic performance and impaired auditory processing, and so these findings, if also seen in human children, suggest significant implications for children exposed to antiretrovirals during development despite passing hearing screenings at birth.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.