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. 2024 Feb 17;78(2):395-401.
doi: 10.1093/cid/ciad545.

Weight Gain After Antiretroviral Therapy Initiation and Subsequent Risk of Metabolic and Cardiovascular Disease

Sara H Bares  1 , Xingye Wu  2 , Katherine Tassiopoulos  3 , Jordan E Lake  4 , Susan L Koletar  5 , Robert Kalayjian  6 , Kristine M Erlandson  7
Affiliations

Weight Gain After Antiretroviral Therapy Initiation and Subsequent Risk of Metabolic and Cardiovascular Disease

Sara H Bares et al. Clin Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Weight gain following initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) is common. We assessed the impact of changes in weight in the year following ART initiation with subsequent cardiometabolic disease among AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) participants.

Methods: Linear regression models were fit to examine the association between change in weight/waist circumference (WC) in weeks 0-48 and change in metabolic parameters in weeks 0-48 and 48-96. Cox proportional hazard models were fit to examine the association between changes in weight/WC in weeks 0-48 and diabetes mellitus (DM), metabolic syndrome, or cardiometabolic and cardiovascular events after week 48.

Results: Participants (N = 2624) were primarily male (81%) and non-White (60%). Mean weight gain from 0-48 weeks was 3.6 kg (SD 7.3); 130 participants developed DM; 360 metabolic syndrome; 424 any cardiometabolic event; 28 any cardiovascular event, over 480 weeks of follow-up. In adjusted models, total cholesterol increased by 0.63 mg/dL (95% confidence interval [CI] [.38, .089]) and LDL by 0.39 mg/dL (0.19, 0.59) per 1 kg increase in weight from weeks 0 to48. Participants who experienced >10% weight gain (vs -5% to 5%) had an increased risk of DM (hazard ratio [HR] 2.01, 95% CI [1.30, 3.08]), metabolic syndrome (HR 2.24, 95% CI [1.55, 2.62]), and cardiometabolic outcomes (HR 1.54, 95% CI [1.22, 1.95]). Participants who lost more than 5% of their baseline weight had a lower risk of incident metabolic syndrome (HR 0.67, 95% CI [0.42, 1.07]). Trends for WC were similar.

Conclusions: Weight and body composition changes in the first year following ART initiation are associated with contemporaneous changes in metabolic parameters and subsequent cardiometabolic disease.

Keywords: ART initiation; HIV; cardiovascular disease; metabolic disease; weight gain.

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Conflict of interest statement

Potential conflicts of interest. S. H. B. reports research grants to her institution from ViiV Health Care and Janssen as well as scientific advisory to Gilead Sciences (payment for expert testimony). J. E. L. reports research grants to her institution from Gilead Sciences. K. E. reports research grants to her institution from Gilead Sciences and scientific advisory consulting fees to Merck, ViiV Health Care, and Gilead Sciences. All other authors report no potential conflicts. All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript have been disclosed.

Figures

Graphical Abstract
Graphical Abstract
This graphical abstract is also available at Tidbit: https://tidbitapp.io/tidbits/weight-gain-after-antiretroviral-therapy-initiation-and-subsequent-risk-of-metabolic-and-cardiovascular-disease/publish
Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Clinical events by weeks since ART initiation. Abbreviations: ART, antiretroviral therapy; CV, cardiovascular.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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