Frailty and NAFLD in HIV: Are They Related?

While frailty and sarcopenia have been linked to abdominal obesity and its related comorbidities, the effect of these conditions on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in individuals with HIV infection is not well understood.

In an analysis presented at the annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, researchers assessed this relationship using data from 200 men without HIV infection and 292 men with HIV infection (median age 55 and 52 years, respectively) from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study.

Overall, NAFLD prevalence was 21% in men without HIV infection and 16% in men with HIV infection. Among those participants with NAFLD, a frailty-related phenotype was more prevalent in those without HIV infection (21%) vs those with HIV infection (11%). The probability of a frailty-related phenotype was higher in men without HIV infection with NAFLD but lower among men with HIV infection.

“NAFLD was more prevalent in HIV- men, and independently associated with a FRP among HIV- men but not men living with HIV despite the latter’s increased prevalence of frailty. The mechanisms of the muscle-liver adipose tissue axis underlying NAFLD might differ by HIV serostatus,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:
Debroy P, Barret B, Erlandson KM, et al. Relationships between hepatic steatosis and frailty differ by HIV serostatus. Paper presented at: Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections; March 2020. Boston, Massachusetts. http://www.croiconference.org/sessions/relationships-between-hepatic-steatosis-and-frailty-differ-hiv-serostatus.