Selected highlights from the 4th International Workshop on Adverse Drug Reactions and Lipodystrophy in HIV

It may be useful for PHAs to know their risk of developing lipodystrophy, particularly early in the course of therapy. That way, those who are at high risk for this complication could perhaps take preventive measures to minimize its impact. Researchers in Italy suggest that a simple blood test — triglyceride (TG) measurements — may be useful in this regard.

Study details

Researchers recruited 837 HIV positive subjects between September 1999 and March 2000. Every six months, researchers assessed subjects for the presence and extent of lipodystrophy. At the start of the study, subjects had the following profile:

• 28% female, 72% male
• average age – 36 years
• average CD4+ count – 332 cells
• average viral load – 50,000 copies

Anti-HIV combinations used were as follows:

• 35% of subjects started with one or two drugs
• 64% of subjects started with three drugs
• 1% of subjects started with four or more drugs

Results

After three years, the risk of developing specific body shape changes were as follows:

• 16% – fat loss
• 15% – fat gain
• 8% – both

REFERENCE

Galli M, Cozzi-Lepri A, Gervasoni C, et al. Triglyceridaemia, but not cholesterolaemia and glycaemia, is a predictor of lipodystrophy: the results of LipoICONA longitudinal study. Abstract 41.

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