The world has finally settled living with Human immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) with no cure discovered so far. Yong people with HIV infection under HIV management drugs get married and eventually end up being pregnant and bearing babies. The need therefore to investigate the effect of HIV infection and antiretroviral drugs on body chemistry especially the hormones concerned with pregnancy and lactation cannot be over emphasized as this is important to intervene when necessary for the overall benefit for the mother and child. We investigated the effect of anti-retroviral drugs and human immune deficiency virus (HIV) infection on prolactin production and stimulation in HIV-infected pregnant women. A total of 120 subjects participated in the study. Sixty (group 1) of these subjects were HIV seropositive pregnant women who commenced treatment with zidovudine in combination with lamivudine, that is highly anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) at 2 nd trimester. The 2 nd group made up of 60 HIV seronegative pregnant women who received no drug and as control to the study. The blood samples of both groups were collected at the beginning of the second and at the end of the third trimesters. For group 1 (seropositive pregnant women), the blood collection was done just before commencing the HAART treatment. The prolactin level of HIV seropositive pregnant women were significantly (P < 0.05) lower than the HIV seronegative pregnant women at the 2 nd trimester. Also, the prolactin level of HIV seropositive pregnant women at 2 nd trimester was not significantly increased (P> 0.05) compared with third trimester level. The reverse was the case with HIV seronegative pregnant women where prolactin level of 3 rd trimester was significantly increased when compared with 2 nd trimester. HIV infection has prolactin suppressive effect on pregnant women and HAART treatment did not significantly raise prolactin level.

Sickle cell anemia (SCA) patients are reported with infertility and low rate of pregnancies. This is associated with wide range of reproductive issues that are still relevant because of the complications and problems of the disease that still persist till date. This study was carried out to establish the secretion pattern of the sex hormones (Progesterone and Estradiol) in the three trimesters of pregnant sickle cell disease subjects in the Niger Delta Region, south of Nigeria. The study included twenty (20) pregnant sickle cell anemia subjects with average age of 27.4 years and twenty (20) apparently healthy (Hemoglobin AA) subjects with average age of 28.2 years. Their samples collection started when they registered for antenatal care at the clinics within the first trimester of pregnancy. The Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was used in the measurement of the hormones in the plasma of the subjects. The result showed a statistical significant reduction (P < 0.05) in the values of the hormones in the three trimesters obtained for the sickle cell disease (SCD) subjects when compared with apparently healthy subjects with the same age range. Statistical analysis showed a strong positive correlation ((r = 0.8151 for Estradiol and r = 0.8793) for Progesterone) between the secretion of the sex hormones, in the sickle cell subjects and the control. The result is attributed to the sickle cell gene abnormality and the treatment of SCA that affects the endocrine system by inhibiting the production of gonadotropins from the pituitary gland. The SCD itself does not directly damage the reproductive system; however it can affect other systems which will eventually cause harm to the reproductive system. The study concluded that the sickle cell anemia patients require the administration of the hormone drugs during How to cite this paper: Ezeiruaku, F.C., Eze, E.M. and Okeke, C.U.