Background: Weight loss is comprised of variable proportions of fat and fat-free mass (FFM). HIV-infected patients treated with antiretroviral (ARV) agents may lose subcutaneous fat (lipoatrophy) in the absence of FFM depletion, which could confound the clinical interpretation of weight loss.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the results of anthropometric and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry studies in 196 HIV-infected men and women with documented 10% weight loss (HIV group), and compared them to 29 untreated, HIV-infected men without 10% weight loss (HIV weight-stable), and 109 healthy adults (72 men and 37 women) to evaluate the effect of ARV therapy on the composition of weight loss.