Short Communication: No Significant Increase in Body Fat Mass in Naive HIV-Infected Patients Starting Raltegravir...

A significant weight gain has been reported in HIV-infected patients starting combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) including integrase strand transfer inhibitors, but clinical data about changes in body fat mass are still lacking. An observational retrospective analysis was made to evaluate changes in body fat mass and weight in 39 cART-naive patients initiating a first antiretroviral treatment, including tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine plus raltegravir (RAL) or darunavir/ritonavir (DRV/r), and who had a follow-up of at least 12 months and a whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry performed at baseline and after 12 months. After 12 months, changes in weight and total fat mass were comparable and statistically not significant in both groups. The median increase [interquartile range (IQR)] in weight was +2.02 kg (+1.19, +2.95; p = .378) in RAL group, and +1.71 kg (+0.89, +2.54; p = .449) in DRV/r group. The median increase in body fat mass (IQR) was +1.27 kg (+1.09, +1.43; p = .278) in RAL group, and +1.04 kg (+0.89, +1.22; p = .781) in DRV/r group. In conclusion, in our study, an initial regimen including RAL plus tenofovir/emtricitabine after 12 months led to a small and nonsignificant increase in weight and body fat mass, and changes were comparable with a DRV/r-based initial regimen.