Role of cytokines and testosterone in regulating lean body mass and resting energy expenditure in HIV-infected men

Abstract

Although catastrophic weight loss is no longer common in HIV-infected men, we hypothesized that a more gradual process of cachexia [loss of lean body mass (LBM) without severe weight loss, often accompanied by elevated resting energy expenditure (REE)] is still common and is driven by excessive production of the catabolic cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β). We performed a longitudinal analysis of an ongoing cohort study of nutritional status in 172 men with HIV infection. LBM loss of >1 kg occurred in 35% of the cohort, and LBM loss of >5% occurred in 12.2% over 8 mo of observation, but classical wasting (loss of ≈10% of weight) was rare (2%). Both TNF-α (−150 g LBM · ng−1· ml−1, P < 0.02) and IL-1β production (−130 g LBM · ng−1· ml−1, P < 0.01) by peripheral blood mononuclear cells predicted loss of LBM. A rise in REE of >200 kcal/day was found in 17.7% of the subjects regardless of weight change. IL-1β (+9 kcal/day per ng/ml, P < 0.002) and TNF-α (+10 kcal/day per ng/ml, P < 0.02) production predicted ΔREE. Serum free testosterone was inversely associated with TNF-α production and was not an independent predictor of either ΔLBM or ΔREE after adjustment for cytokine production. Even though weight loss was rare in this cohort of patients treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy, loss of LBM was common and was driven by catabolic cytokines and not by inadequate dietary intake or hypogonadism.