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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Virol. Aug 12, 2017; 6(3): 49-52
Published online Aug 12, 2017. doi: 10.5501/wjv.v6.i3.49
Additional attention to combination antiretroviral therapy-related lipodystrophy
Norihiko Kobayashi, Masako Nakahara, Masako Oka, Kumiko Saeki
Norihiko Kobayashi, Masako Nakahara, Masako Oka, Kumiko Saeki, Department of Disease Control, Research Institute, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo 162-8655, Japan
Author contributions: Kobayashi N, Nakahara M and Oka M collected the materials and wrote the manuscript; Saeki K supervised the publication of this commentary.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Kumiko Saeki, MD, PhD, Department of Disease Control, Research Institute, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, 1-21-1, Toyama, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8655, Japan. saeki@ri.ncgm.go.jp
Telephone: +81-3-32027181 Fax: +81-3-32071038
Received: March 23, 2017
Peer-review started: March 24, 2017
First decision: May 19, 2017
Revised: July 21, 2017
Accepted: August 3, 2017
Article in press: August 5, 2017
Published online: August 12, 2017
Abstract

The occurrence of lipodystrophy in patients taking anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) medications is a serious problem as it is irreversible even after drug withdrawal. Although it was first recognized in patients taking proteinase inhibitors, other types of anti-HIV agents can also cause lipodystrophy. In a recent publication by Jones et al entitled “Highly active antiretroviral therapy dysregulates proliferation and differentiation of human pre-adipocytes” in World Journal of Virology, it was reported that simultaneous treatment of human subcutaneous adipocytes with anti-HIV drugs with different mechanisms of action synergistically exerted anti-adipogenesis effects in vitro, warning us to take utmost care in every case receiving combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). For elucidation of the molecular basis for cART-related lipodystrophy, multi-faceted approaches should be taken, based on a deeper understanding of the development and organization of adipose tissues.

Keywords: Combination antiretroviral therapy, Lipodystrophy, Protease inhibitor, Reverse transcriptase inhibitor, Human immunodeficiency virus

Core tip: Development of lipodystrophy in patients receiving combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has been a serious problem. Although it was first reported in patients taking proteinase inhibitors, other types of anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) agents also cause lipodystrophy. A recent publication in World Journal of Virology reported unexpected synergism among anti-HIV drugs with different mechanisms of action in inhibiting adipogenesis in vitro. To elucidate the molecular basis for cART-related lipodystrophy, multi-faceted approaches should be taken with a deeper understanding of the development and organization of adipose tissues.