Total body composition by DXA of 241 HIV-negative men and 162 HIV-infected men: proposal of reference values for...

The aim of this study was to define standard values for fat mass distribution by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative men and to analyze factors associated with lipodystrophy in HIV-infected men. Total-body composition was analyzed in 241 HIV-negative men (controls) and 162 HIV-infected men. We created a fat mass ratio (FMR) as the ratio of the percentage of the trunk fat mass to the percentage of the lower limbs fat mass. We defined the FMR standard values as the mean value+/-standard deviation. We compared body mass index (BMI), fat mass percentage (%FM), lean mass (LM), bone mineral density (BMD), and FMR between the control group and HIV-infected men, by age range, according to prescription of treatment and presence of clinical lipodystrophy. The FMR standard value is equal to 1.3+/-0.2. The FMR was higher in treated HIV-infected men with or without clinical lipodystrophy. The FMR was similar for naïve HIV-infected men and controls. It was positively correlated with age, cumulative time on treatment, zidovudine, stavudine, or indinavir. BMD and fat mass were lower for treated and naïve HIV-infected men than for HIV-negative men. The FMR seems to be a valuable index for measuring fat mass distribution. We defined FMR standard values from the largest group of HIV-negative men to our knowledge. Applying FMR to HIV patients could help physicians to diagnose lipodystrophy earlier.