NR 283 Week 3 Concept Process Assignment # 1; Teratogenic Agent HIV

Teratogenic agents are a source in the environment that a mother may be exposed to during pregnancy, which can cause a birth defect. Approximately 4 to 5 percent of birth defects occur as a result of exposure to a teratogenic agent (Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, 2019). Teratogenic agents are linked to the treatment of HIV, which is virus that attacks the body’s immune system. When this occurs, T- cells are attacked, which are used to help the body’s immune system fight off infections. If this virus goes untreated, it can lead to AIDS. While no cure currently exists, medications can be utilized to control HIV (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2019). Even though medications can be utilized to help treat those who are diagnosed with HIV, they have side effects associated with them. One of these side effects are its connection to being a teratogenic agent. When a woman is pregnant with a fetus and is taking medications to help treat HIV, they need to be cautious of what medications that they are using. This is evident when looking at the drug known as dolutegravir, which is a drug that is approved by the FDA to treat patients with HIV. Despite being approved by the FDA, there is now a warning that the drug serves a as a teratogenic agent because it is linked to neural tube birth defects. A preliminary study was conducted among 426 women in African who were taking the antiretroviral medicine dolutegravir for AIDS. When they conceived their baby, four were born with neural tube defects (Jenco, 2018). Based on these findings, the FDA is suggesting that women who are taking this drug should use effective birth control (Jenco, 2018). Another medication utilized to treat patients with HIV is efavirenz, which was approved by the FDA and represents a teratogenic agent as well. The FDA cautions using this medication during the first trimester of pregnancy. This is due to the risk of neural tube defects, similar to dolutegravir (U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2018). This differs for the recommendations made for dolutegravir, as women being treated with efavirenz can utilize the drug after the first trimester or when they are planning to become pregnant. Even though these two medications used as a form of treatment for AIDS are correlated to birth defects, a number of other HIV medications have been found to be safe for pregnant women and babies. Medications including: AZT, Epivir, Zerit, Combivir, Viramune, and Viracept have all been taken by enough pregnant women to conclude that they do not cause a significantly higher number of birth defects (New York State Department of Health, 2013).