Lipidome Alterations with Exercise Among People With and Without HIV: An Exploratory Study

Age-related comorbidities and physical function impairments in aging people with HIV (PWH) can be improved through exercise interventions. The mechanisms underlying these improvements, including lipidomic changes, are unknown. Sedentary adults (50-75 years old) with or without HIV participated in supervised endurance/resistance exercise for 24 weeks. Plasma lipid concentrations (∼1,200 lipid species from 13 lipid classes) at baseline and week 24 were measured by mass spectrometry. Given multiple comparisons, unadjusted and Benjamini-Hochberg corrected p values are reported. Analyses are considered exploratory. Twenty-five PWH and 24 controls had paired samples at baseline and week 24. The change in total triacylglycerol (TAG) concentrations after exercise intervention differed between groups (unadj-p = 0.006, adj-p = 0.078) with concentrations increasing among controls, but not among PWH. Changes in concentrations of TAG species composed of long-chain fatty acids differed between groups (unadj-p < 0.04) with increases among controls, but not among PWH. Changes in total diacylglycerol (DAG) concentration from baseline to week 24 differed between groups (unadj-p = 0.03, adj-p = 0.2) with an increase in PWH and a nonsignificant decrease in controls. Baseline to week 24 changes in DAGs composed of palmitic acid (16:0), palmitoleic acid (16:1), and stearic acid (18:0) differed by serostatus (unadj-p = 0.009-0.03; adj-p 0.10-0.12), with nonsignificant increases and decreases in concentrations in PWH and controls, respectively. Concentrations of individual lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) and ceramide (CER) species also differed by HIV serostatus (unadj-p < = 0.05). Although exploratory, the effects of exercise on the lipidome may differ among people with and without HIV, potentially due to underlying alterations in lipid processing and fatty acid oxidation in PWH. Clinical Trials NCT02404792.