Wunder, DorotheaDorotheaWunderFux, Christoph AndreasChristoph AndreasFuxBersinger, Nick A.Nick A.BersingerMueller, N JN JMuellerHirschel, BBHirschelCavassini, MMCavassiniElzi, LLElziSchmid, PascalePascaleSchmidBernasconi, EEBernasconiMueller, BBMuellerFurrer, HansjakobHansjakobFurrer0000-0002-1375-31462024-10-132024-10-132008https://boris-portal.unibe.ch/handle/20.500.12422/101257OBJECTIVES: We compared androgen and gonadotropin values in HIV-infected men who did and did not develop lipoatrophy on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). METHODS: From a population of 136 treatment-naïve male Caucasians under successful zidovudine/lamivudine-based cART, the 10 patients developing lipoatrophy (cases) were compared with 87 randomly chosen controls. Plasma levels of free testosterone (fT), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone (LH) were measured at baseline and after 2 years of cART. RESULTS: At baseline, 60% of the cases and 71% of the controls showed abnormally low fT values. LH levels were normal or low in 67 and 94% of the patients, respectively, indicating a disturbance of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. fT levels did not significantly change after 2 years of cART. Cases showed a significant increase in LH levels, while controls showed a significant increase in DHEA levels. In a multivariate logistic regression model, lipoatrophy was associated with higher baseline DHEA levels (P=0.04), an increase in LH levels during cART (P=0.001), a lower body mass index and greater age. CONCLUSIONS: Hypogonadism is present in the majority of HIV-infected patients. The development of cART-related lipoatrophy is associated with an increase in LH and a lack of increase in DHEA levels.enarticle1845994700025748400001010.1111/j.1468-1293.2008.00578.x