Effects of Liraglutide, a Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Analogue, on Metabolic Abnormalities and Body Weight in HIV-infected Subjects with or without Type 2 Diabetes

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of six-month liraglutide treatment on antiretroviral therapy (ART)-induced HIV-associated lipodystrophic syndrome (HALS) including diabetes mellitus (DM), lipodystrophy, and dyslipidemia in HIV-infected subjects with and DM. Methods: We performed a retrospective case-control study in which medical records of lipodystrophic HIV-infected subjects and HIV-uninfected obese subjects with or without DM who were treated with liraglutide for 6 months were analyzed. A group of HIV-uninfected obese subjects served as controls. Subjects were separated into 4 groups: lipodystrophic HIV-infected subjects without DM (HIV-DM) (N=30), lipodystrophic HIVinfected subjects with DM (HIV+DM) (N=32), obese subjects without DM (obese-DM) (N=32), and obese subjects with DM (obese+DM) (N=53). Changes in body weight, blood pressure (BP), and glucose and lipid profiles were investigated over 6 months of liraglutide treatment. Results: Body weights were significantly reduced in all groups except HIV–DM. Glucose profile mainly improved in the obese+DM group. Liraglutide treatment of HIV–DM subjects tended to decrease low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and total cholesterol/ high density lipoprotein cholesterol (TC/HDL-C). In HIV+DM subjects, there was a tendency to lower BP, TC, and non-HDL-C in response to liraglutide. In obese-DM subjects, liraglutide tended to lower TC/HDL, triglyceride (TG), logTG/HDL, non-HDL-C and LDL-C. In obese-DM subjects, fasting blood glucose (FBG) and TC were significantly reduced. In obese+DM subjects, liraglutide treatment tended to lower BP, non-HDL-C, FBG, and logTG/HDL-C. Conclusions: Six months of liraglutide treatment of HIV-infected subjects resulted in weight loss, which was statistically significant only in subjects with diabetes; it also improved several metabolic abnormalities associated with HALS.