Plasma leptin levels in men are not related to the development of lipoatrophy during antiretroviral therapy.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the correlations between the hormone leptin and lipoatrophy in HIV-positive, treatment-naive patients on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART).


METHODS
Case-control study nested in a multicentre cohort of HIV-infected adults. Cases were patients that developed lipoatrophy and controls those who did not.


METHODS
Clinical parameters and plasma leptin determinations were studied in 97 HIV-1-infected, treatment-naive Caucasian men (10 cases and 87 controls) on an unchanged and virologically successful drug regimen with a zidovudine/lamivudine backbone at baseline and after 2 years of cART. The association of plasma leptin levels and the development of lipoatrophy was investigated.


RESULTS
Two years of cART was not associated with a change in plasma leptin levels. Plasma leptin levels remained sensible to changes in body mass index. There was no difference in leptin levels between patients who developed lipoatrophy and controls, neither before nor after cART. The only predictor of development of lipoatrophy was a higher age (P = 0.02).


CONCLUSIONS
Leptin as measured in plasma is unlikely to play a major role in the genesis of lipoatrophy.
Wunder
Dorothea
D
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Hospital of Berne, Switzerland.
Bersinger
Nick A
NA
Fux
Christoph
C
Weber
Rainer
R
Bernasconi
Enos
E
Cavassini
Matthias
M
Bucher
Heiner C
HC
Schiffer
Veronique
V
Schmid
Patrick
P
Furrer
Hansjakob
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015497:HIV-1; D039682:HIV-Associated Lipodystrophy Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019562:Viral Load
D020738:Leptin