Is Emtricitabine safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what NIH LactMed, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's authority on medicines and breastfeeding, reports about Emtricitabine. This is a summary of that source — not our own verdict.
Effects on the breastfed infant
In a study of 50 infants breastfed by HIV-negative women who were given pre-exposure prophylaxis daily with the combination of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate 300 mg and emtricitabine 200 mg by directly observed therapy for 10 days, 2 infants reportedly had diarrhea lasting 2 to 3 days. No other side effects were reported.[ 6 ] A clinical trial compared the dapivirine vaginal ring 25 mg monthly to PrEP consisting of 200 mg emtricitabine and 300 mg tenofovir disoproxil fumarate daily as prophylaxis against HIV infection. In the infants of mothers randomized to PrEP (n = 48), no infants had reports of adverse events attributable to maternal therapy.[ 10 ]
Effects on milk supply
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Levels in milk
Maternal Levels. Five exclusively breastfeeding mothers received oral emtricitabine 200 mg plus tenofovir 300 mg and nevirapine 200 mg at the start of labor, then oral emtricitabine 200 mg and tenofovir 300 mg daily for 7 days postpartum. A total of 16 concurrent maternal blood and milk samples were collected on days 1, 2, 3, and 7 postpartum between 10 minutes and 21 hours after the mothers' doses. Median peak and trough emtricitabine concentrations in breastmilk were 679 mcg/L and 177 mcg/L, respectively. The authors estimated that an exclusively breastfed infant would receive about 2% of the proposed infant dose for emtricitabine and achieve infant serum concentrations that might result in the emergence of viral resistance to emtricitabine.[ 5 ] Fifty HIV-negative women who were nursing their infants were given pre-exposure prophylaxis daily with the combination of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate 300 mg and emtricitabine 200 mg by directly observed therapy for 10 days. On days 7 and 10 of therapy, peak milk samples were obtained 1 to 2 hours after a dose and trough samples were obtained 23 to 24 hours after the previous dose. The median peak milk emtricitabine concentration was 212.5 mcg/L and the trough concentration was 183 mcg/L. These values represent an estimated daily dosage of 27.5 to 31.5 mcg/kg, which is approximately 0.5% of the proposed infant therapeutic dosage.[ 6 ] Emtricitabine was measured in 6 HIV-positive nursing mothers after a 300 mg dose during ongoing therapy. The peak breastmilk level was 872 mcg/L (range 696 to 1063 mcg/L) at a median of 3 hours.[ 7 ] Sixteen Nigerian women took emtricitabine 200 mg once daily as part of a combination therapy for HIV. Expressed milk samples were taken before the dose and at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 12 hours after the dose. The median peak breastmilk concentration from dried breastmilk spots was 843 mcg/L (IQR 702 to 1132 mcg/L) at a median of 4 hours after the dose (IQR 2 to 8 hours).[ 8 ] Sixteen mothers taking
Source: NIH LactMed (National Library of Medicine).
Educational summary of an authoritative source — not medical advice. Never start, stop, or change a medicine while breastfeeding without confirming with your doctor.