ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: At issue is whether weight loss in HIV infection is a cachectic process, characterised by loss of lean body mass with conservation of fat, or a process of starvation. We present data on body composition from 516 persons at different stages of HIV infection as determined by CD4 counts. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analyses of body composition in relation to CD4 count. SETTING: The baseline data from a prospective cohort study of outcomes in HIV/AIDS in relation to nutritional status in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. SUBJECTS: : The first 516 subjects with HIV/AIDS to enroll in the study. RESULTS: Differences in weight in relation to CD4 counts were present only at CD4 counts of 600 or less (slope below : 1.9 kg per 100 CD4 cells, On average, 68% of the difference in weight over CD4 counts was fat (slope: 1.3 kg fat per 100 CD4 cells, CONCLUSIONS: This cross-sectional analysis suggests that weight loss consists principally of fat loss in those persons with adequate fat stores. This observation will need to be confirmed in longitudinal analyses.
