Journal of AIDS & Clinical Research

Association of Physical Activity with Lipodystrophy Syndrome in HIVInfected Patients

Abstract

Fabiana Schuelter Trevisol, Paulo R Alencastro, Paula AB Ribeiro, Fernando H Wollf, Maria Letícia R Ikeda, Nemora T Barcellos, Ajacio BM Brandao and Sandra C Fuchs

Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) has increased life expectancy of HIV-infected patients, but may also increase triglyceride and cholesterol levels, triggering lipodystrophy syndrome. Physical activity may prevent or attenuate such adverse effects, but it has not been fully evaluated in HIV-infected patients. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the association between physical activity and lipodystrophy syndrome in HIV-infected individuals, 18 years or older. Physical activity was evaluated by the short version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Lipodystrophy was verified by at least two reporting of changes in different parts of the body, or directly assessed, categorized as lipoatrophy or lipohypertrophy. Among 1,240 participants, 46% had lipohypertrophy, which was independently associated with insufficient physical activity in men, but not in women. The prevalence of lipoatrophy was 53.2%. Metabolic parameters were higher among individuals on HAART, in comparison to HAART-naive patients. In conclusion, HAART-naive physically active individuals had lower metabolic profile than among insufficiently active.