{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T06:15:49Z","timestamp":1783577749418,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783555200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001659","name":"Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001659","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Children who are HIV-exposed uninfected (HEU) show greater morbidity and mortality than HIV-unexposed children (HUU). In this study we investigate sex differences in growth, infection rates and antibody response among HEU and HUU infants.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The study enrolled 107 pregnant women with HIV and 103 pregnant women without HIV with follow-up of their infants from birth to 12 months of age. Study measures assessed included growth parameters, the prevalence of children with overt disease symptoms as reported by the mother, PCR-based assessment of infections (cytomegalovirus (CMV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), rhinovirus, influenza A &amp;amp; B, rotavirus and malaria) as well as antibody profile to CMV, RSV and enterovirus infections.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Compared to male HUU, male HEU infants had higher stunting at month 3 (0% vs 17.4%; P\u00a0=\u00a00.01) and month 12 (12.5% vs 38.9%; P\u00a0=\u00a00.03). Additionally, they showed transiently lower Weight-for-age-z-scores at 3 months (1.07 vs 0.05, P\u00a0=\u00a00.04), with higher risk of rhinorrhea (RR\u00a0=\u00a02.29, P\u00a0=\u00a00.02) and lower enterovirus titers at birth (P\u00a0=\u00a00.0066). Female HEU showed transiently higher stunting at 6 months (0% vs 21%; P\u00a0=\u00a00.01) and lower CMV viremia at 6 months, with elevated CMV antibody titers at 3 months (P\u00a0=\u00a00.04) compared to female HUU. With prevalence ranging from 25%\u201361%, CMV and Rhinovirus infections were dominant in all groups. HEU and HUU exhibited similar antibody decay and acquisition patterns for CMV, RSV, and Enterovirus.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Overall, HEU and HUU infants showed similar growth, infection and humoral immune profiles. However, exploratory analyses identified transient sex-specific differences, with male HEU infants displaying poorer growth trajectories and selected infection-related vulnerabilities, highlighting the need for larger studies to clarify sex-dependent effects of\n                      <jats:italic>in utero<\/jats:italic>\n                      exposure to HIV\/ART.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcimb.2026.1816838","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T05:36:35Z","timestamp":1783575395000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Growth, infection, and humoral immunity in children who are HIV exposed and uninfected"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Romeo","family":"Djounda","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Immunology Laboratory, The Biotechnology Center, University of Yaound\u00e9 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