1 3 J Endocrinol Invest DOI 10.1007/s40618-015-0256-0 ORIGINAL ARTICLE IL-4 and IL-6 levels and adipose tissue distribution in HIV-1 patients under antiretroviral therapy S. Belo · A. C. Santos · A. Madureira · J. Pereira · A. Sarmento · D. Carvalho · P. Freitas Received: 27 August 2014 / Accepted: 6 February 2015 © Italian Society of Endocrinology (SIE) 2015 significance. No correlation between IL-6, or IL-4, HOMA- IR and quantitative body fat mass distribution was found. Conclusion Although there was a tendency for patients with isolated lipoatrophy and isolated fat accumulation to present higher IL-6 levels, these differences were not statistically sig- nificant. No differences were found relating IL-4 levels. Keywords IL-6 · IL-4 · HIV · Lipodystrophy · Insulin resistance Abbreviations cART Combined antiretroviral therapy FMR Fat mass ratio IR Insulin resistance CT Computed tomography HOMA-IR Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance CL Clinical lypodistrophy Abstract Purpose Combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) for the treatment of HIV-1 infection has been associated with complications, including lipodystrophy. Several interleu- kins have been implicated in the pathology and physiology of lipodystrophy. The present study aimed to compare the levels of IL-4 and IL-6 in HIV-1 patients under cART with and without, clinically and fat mass ratio defined, lipodys- trophy and in four different groups of fat distribution: (1) no lipodystrophy; (2) isolated central fat accumulation; (3) isolated lipoatrophy and (4) mixed forms of lipodystrophy. Methods In the present cross-sectional study we evalu- ated IL-4 and IL-6 levels, insulin resistance and insulin sensitivity indexes in 86 HIV-infected adults under cART. Results No significant differences in IL-4 and IL-6 levels between the four groups of body composition were observed. Patients with HOMA-IR >4 presented higher levels of IL-6 and lower levels of IL-4, although without statistical S. Belo (*) · D. Carvalho · P. Freitas Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Centro Hospitalar de São João, Alameda Prof. Hernani Monteiro, Porto 4200, Portugal e-mail: sandra.belo@gmail.com D. Carvalho e-mail: davidecarvalho@gmail.com P. Freitas e-mail: paula_freitas@sapo.pt S. Belo · A. C. Santos · A. Madureira · A. Sarmento · D. Carvalho · P. Freitas Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal e-mail: acsantos@medup.pt A. Madureira e-mail: ajbmadureira@gmail.com A. Sarmento e-mail: antonio.sarmento@hsjoao.min-saude.pt S. Belo · A. C. Santos · A. Madureira · A. Sarmento · D. Carvalho · P. Freitas Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal A. Madureira Department of Radiology, Centro Hospitalar de São João, Porto, Portugal J. Pereira Department of Nuclear Medicine, Centro Hospitalar de São João, Porto, Portugal e-mail: jorgepgpereira@gmail.com A. Sarmento Department of Infectious Diseases, Centro Hospitalar de São João, Porto, Portugal