IL-4 and IL-6 levels and adipose tissue distribution in HIV-1 patients under antiretroviral therapy.

Purpose: Combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) for the treatment of HIV-1 infection has been associated with complications, including lipodystrophy. Several interleukins have been implicated in the pathology and physiology of lipodystrophy. The present study aimed to compare the levels of IL-4 and IL-6 in HIV-1 patients under cART with and without, clinically and fat mass ratio defined, lipodystrophy and in four different groups of fat distribution: (1) no lipodystrophy; (2) isolated central fat accumulation; (3) isolated lipoatrophy and (4) mixed forms of lipodystrophy.
Methods: In the present cross-sectional study we evaluated IL-4 and IL-6 levels, insulin resistance and insulin sensitivity indexes in 86 HIV-infected adults under cART.
Results: No significant differences in IL-4 and IL-6 levels between the four groups of body composition were observed. Patients with HOMA-IR >4 presented higher levels of IL-6 and lower levels of IL-4, although without statistical significance. No correlation between IL-6, or IL-4, HOMA-IR and quantitative body fat mass distribution was found.
Conclusion: Although there was a tendency for patients with isolated lipoatrophy and isolated fat accumulation to present higher IL-6 levels, these differences were not statistically significant. No differences were found relating IL-4 levels.