Effects of HIV infection on body composition changes among men of different racial/ethnic origins.
OBJECTIVE
To compare racial/ethnic differences and effects of HIV on body composition among antiretroviral (ART)-naïve HIV seropositive (HIV+) men to a representative sample of HIV seronegative (HIV-) men. We hypothesized that the effect of HIV infection will be uniform across all racial/ethnic groups.


METHODS
A cross-sectional analysis was performed comparing HIV- (NHANES 1999-2002) and ART-naïve HIV+ men (CPCRA 061). Regional subcutaneous fat area was estimated by skinfold caliper. Total body fat (TBF), fat-free mass (FFM), and body fat index (BFI) were derived by Durnin-Womersley formula (TBF-DW, FFM-DW, BFI [TBF-DW/height(2)]). Bioelectric impedance analyses (BIA) was used to assess TBF-BIA, FFM-BIA, and body cell mass (BCM). Multivariate regression modeling adjusted for age, smoking, and hepatitis C for each measurement was performed.


RESULTS
HIV+ men (n = 321) were older and more likely to be smokers than HIV- men (n = 1,996). The HIV- men were heavier in weight (+17.8 kg, p < .001) and had higher BMI (+4.3 kg/m(2), p < .001), BCM (+2.4 kg, p = .02), FFM (+5.9 kg, p < .001), TBF-DW (+5.95 kg, p < .001), BFI (+1.6 kg/m(2), p < .001), and regional fat mass than the HIV+ men. In the multivariate model, there were significant percentage differences between HIV- and HIV+ African American men for all body composition measurements (weight +15.3%; BMI +14.5%; BCM +5.2%; TBF-DW +15%; BFI 13.9%; FFM-DW 7.9%) and all circumference and skinfold measurements; all ps < .05. For Caucasian men, the following differences were significant between HIV- and HIV+: weight +14.4%; BMI +14.0%; BCM +6.0%; TBF-DW +17.7%; BFI 17.1%; FFM-DW 8.7%; and all circumference and skinfold measurements. Similarly, among Latino men the following differences were significant: weight +10.1%; BMI +12.3%; FFM-DW +7.7%; and arm, waist, and thigh circumferences and mid-arm skinfold fat area. The interaction terms for race/ethnicity were not significant across the three racial groups for weight, BMI, BCM, TBF-BIA, and BFI.


CONCLUSIONS
Compared to HIV uninfected men, among HIV-infected ART-naïve men there was a significant effect of HIV infection itself on body composition among all racial/ethnic groups.
Visnegarwala
Fehmida
F
AbsoluteCare Medical Center, Atlanta, Georgia 30329, USA. Visnegarwala@yahoo.com
Shlay
Judith C
JC
Barry
Vaughn
V
Gibert
Cynthia L
CL
Xiang
Ying
Y
Wang
Jack
J
Kotler
Donald
D
Raghavan
Subhasree
S
El-Sadr
Wafaa M
WM
D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D017097:Electric Impedance; D005006:Ethnicity; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D044469:Racial Groups; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012907:Smoking; D050151:Subcutaneous Fat