The Trends of Progesterone Hormone in Advancing Pregnancy of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-infected Women: A Cohort Study in Western Kenya

Abstract

Despite many studies on Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and pregnancy, there is still insufficient information regarding the effect of HIV on progesterone in advancing pregnancy. In a prospective cohort study, 44 antiretroviral therapy naïve adult asymptomatic HIV-infected pregnant women and 44 healthy HIV-non-infected pregnant women matched by age, parity, CD4 count and gestational time were recruited in western Kenya to test for the trends of progesterone hormone levels in advancing pregnancy of HIV-infected and non- infected women. Blood sample from all study participants was collected, and progesterone hormone levels determined using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay method at first (baseline), second and third trimesters. The changes of progesterone were assessed using repeated measures regression models and presented alongside the graphical …