Objective:

Body composition impacts physical function and mortality. We compared long-term body composition changes after antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation in HIV-infected individuals to that in HIV-uninfected controls.

Design:

Prospective observational study.

Methods:

We performed dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) approximately 7.5 years after initial DXA in available HIV-infected individuals who received DXAs during the randomized treatment trial AIDS Clinical Trials Group A5202. For controls, we used DXA results from HIV-uninfected participants in the Boston Area Community Health/Bone and Women's Interagency HIV Study cohorts. Repeated measures analyses compared adjusted body composition changes between HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected individuals. Multivariable analyses evaluated factors associated with body composition change in HIV-infected individuals.

Results:

We obtained DXA results in 97 HIV-infected and 614 HIV-uninfected participants. Compared with controls, HIV-infected individuals had greater adjusted lean mass and total, trunk, and limb fat gain during the first 96 weeks of ART. Subsequently, HIV-infected individuals lost lean mass compared with controls. Total, trunk, and limb fat gains after 96 weeks of ART slowed in HIV-infected individuals but remained greater than in controls. Lower CD4+ T-cell count was associated with lean mass and fat gain during the initial 96 weeks of ART, but subsequently no HIV-related characteristic was associated with body composition change.

Conclusion:

Consistent with a ‘return to health effect’, HIV-infected individuals, especially those with lower baseline CD4+ T-cell counts, gained more lean mass and fat during the first 96 weeks of ART than HIV-uninfected individuals. Continued fat gain and lean mass loss after 96 weeks may predispose HIV-infected individuals to obesity-related diseases and physical function impairment.