Hip bone geometry in HIV/HCV-co-infected men and healthy controls

Summary

People with both HIV and hepatitis C are more likely than those with HIV alone to have wrist, hip, and spine fractures. We compared hip strength between HIV/HCV-co-infected men and healthy men and found that HIV/HCV-co-infected men had decreased hip strength due to lower lean body mass.

Introduction

Hepatitis C co-infection is a risk factor for fragility fracture among HIV-infected populations. Whether bone strength is compromised in HIV/HCV-co-infected patients is unknown.

Methods

We compared dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA)-derived hip geometry, a measure of bone strength, in 88 HIV/HCV-co-infected men from the Johns Hopkins HIV Clinic to 289 men of similar age and race and without HIV or HCV from the Boston Area Community Health Survey/Bone Survey. Hip geometry was assessed at the narrow neck, intertrochanter, and shaft using hip structural analysis. Lean body mass (LBM), total fat mass (FM), and fat mass ratio (FMR) were measured by whole-body DXA. Linear regression was used to identify body composition parameters that accounted for differences in bone strength between cohorts.

Results

HIV/HCV-co-infected men had lower BMI, LBM, and FM and higher FMR compared to controls (all p?p?Conclusion HIV/HCV-co-infected men have compromised hip strength at the narrow neck compared to uninfected controls, which is attributable in large part to lower lean body mass.