Ultrasonographic Measurement of Intra-Abdominal Fat Thickness in HIV-Infected Patients Treated or Not with Antiretroviral Drugs and Its Correlation to Lipid and Glycemic Profiles

AIMS: To compare the intra-abdominal fat thickness measured by ultrasound between HIV-infected patients treated or not with antiretroviral drugs and to correlate these visceral adiposity measurements to other parameters of cardiovascular risks. METHODS: In a transversal observational study, 160 HIV-infected patients were recruited and divided in two groups, i.e., 123 antiretroviral (ARV)-treated and 37 ARV-naïve patients. These patients were submitted to anthropometric determinations, laboratorial analysis, ultrasonographic measurements of subcutaneous and intra- abdominal fat thickness and to tetrapolar bioelectrical impedance analysis in order to measure the body composition. RESULTS: In the patients treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) the intra-abdominal fat pad was significantly thicker than that of the untreated group (69 +/- 21 mm, n = 123 vs. 60 +/- 18 mm, n = 37; p = 0.03 Student's t test). The intra-abdominal fat thickness correlated significantly with plasma triglyceride, total cholesterol, fasting glucose, glucose measurements 2 h after dextrose load, fasting insulin, HOMA-IR index, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, weight, BMI, WHR and caliper-measured total fat percentage. CONCLUSION: The results showed that antiretroviral therapy is associated with increased ultrasonographic measurements of visceral adiposity. Our data demonstrated a strong correlation between intra-abdominal fat thickness and independent risk factors of cardiovascular disease: atherogenic lipid profile and insulin resistance.