Body Composition and Adipose Tissue in HIV

HIV lipodystrophy is increasingly recognized as a common and clinically significant long-term sequelae of HIV treatment. In the HIV lipodystrophy lipohypertrophy phenotype, visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is increased and this is associated with reduced growth hormone (GH) secretion. Mounting evidence also links this phenotype with dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, subclinical atherosclerosis and cardiovascular (CV) disease in patients with HIV disease. The etiology of HIV lipodystrophy (HIVLD) with central adiposity is unclear, but this phenotype is increasingly common with newer, less lipotoxic combination anti-retroviral therapy (cART) use. VAT and hepatic lipid accumulation, are important health concerns for HIVLD patients. This body composition pattern may contribute to the increased cardiovascular risk that has been demonstrated in patients with HIV lipodystrophy. Patients with HIVLD and central adiposity have been shown to have reduced GH secretion. Thus, a medication has been developed to augment GH secretion. This medication is tesamorelin. GH supplementation in other clinical settings has been shown to reduce visceral adiposity and may reduce hepatic lipid content.