Research

Hormonal

HIV protease inhibitor (PI) therapy causes lipodystrophy in HIV-infected patients, characterized by peripheral fat loss and truncal fat accumulation, along with metabolic abnormalities including insulin resistance and dyslipidemia.

If you are taking HIV protease inhibitors, be aware that you may experience changes in body fat distribution (loss in face/limbs, gain in abdomen/neck) and metabolic issues like insulin resistance. Regular monitoring of lipids and glucose is recommended. Do not stop your medication due to these changes without consulting your doctor, as the benefits of HIV suppression usually outweigh the side effects.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
such therapy is associated with a lipodystrophy syndrome characterized by selective loss of sc fat from the face and extremities and, in some patients, accumulation of fat around the neck, dorsocervical region, abdomen, and trunk. Lipodystrophy in HIV-infected patients (LDHIV) is associated with insulin resistance and its metabolic complications such as impaired glucose tolerance, diabetes, hypertriglyceridemia and low serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. PIs appear to be the strongest link to LDHIV
Dali Chen et al. · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · 2002

Why this rating

Based on a clinical review of multiple observational studies and case reports, not a single RCT.

Source

Lipodystrophy in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Patients

Dali Chen et al. · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · 2002

DOI 10.1210/jc.2002-020794

narrative_reviewCited 228×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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