AIDSWEEKLY Plus; Monday, October 6, 2003
Staff Medical Writers

"A major complication associated with the use of protease inhibitors (PIs) in treatment of HIV-infected patients is lipid abnormalities including dyslipidemia, lipodystrophy, and liver steatosis," researchers in the United States noted. "Previous studies revealed that these abnormalities are associated with PI-induced accumulation of activated sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs) in the nucleus of liver and adipose tissues, resulting in constitutive activation of lipid metabolism genes."

In their study, T.M. Riddle and colleagues at the University of Cincinnati "used the mouse model to determine the potential of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) diet or leptin replacement therapy to alleviate these PI-induced metabolic abnormalities."

The "results showed that feeding C57BL/6 mice with a PUFA-rich diet failed to normalize plasma cholesterol and triglyceride levels in ritonavir-treated mice," they reported. "The PUFA-rich diet also had no effect on ritonavir-induced interscapular fat accumulation and liver steatosis."

"In contrast, daily administration of leptin significantly reversed the elevated plasma cholesterol level induced by ritonavir," published data indicated. "Leptin replacement therapy also significantly reduced the ritonavir-induced interscapular fat mass and improved liver steatosis."

"Taken together, these data suggest that PI-induced lipid abnormalities, especially dyslipidemia, lipodystrophy, and liver steatosis, may be reduced with leptin replacement therapy," the researchers concluded.

Riddle and coauthors published their study in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (Leptin replacement therapy but not dietary polyunsaturated fatty acid alleviates HIV protease inhibitor-induced dyslipidemia and lipodystrophy in mice. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2003 Aug 15;33(5):564-70.

For additional information, contact D.Y. Hui, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, 231 Albert Sabin Way, Cincinnati, OH 45267, USA.

Publisher contact information for the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes is: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 530 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19106-3621, USA.

The information in this article comes under the major subject areas of Adverse Drug Effects, AIDS & HIV, Endocrinology and Lipodystrophy.

This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.

Reference

Riddle TM, Fichtenbaum CJ, Hui DY. "Leptin replacement therapy but not dietary polyunsaturated fatty acid alleviates HIV protease inhibitor-induced dyslipidemia and lipodystrophy in mice", J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2003 Aug 15;33(5):564-70.

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