Analysis of Bone Mineral Content in Horizontally HIV-Infected Children Naïve to Antiretroviral Treatment

Low bone mass is a frequent finding in HIV-infected individuals. Reduced bone mass has been found in vertically infected children who are receiving antiretroviral treatment. Little is known about bone mass in horizontally infected young patients who are naïve to antiretroviral therapy. We measured the bone mineral content (BMC) at the lumbar spine and in the whole skeleton by using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in 16 HIV-infected children (age 9.3 ± 3.9 years) naïve to antiretroviral treatment, and in 119 healthy children (age 9.7 ± 3.3 years). Thirteen patients were also pair-matched by anthropometric measures, sex, and age with healthy children. Median spine BMC of HIV-infected children was 14.9 g (8.2–39.2 g), and whole body BMC was 1106.1 g (55.5–2344.1 g). Spine BMC of healthy children was 18.6 g (6.8–52.2 g), and whole body BMC was 1213.5 g (541.0–2722.0 g). Multivariate analysis showed a mean difference of spine BMC values of 0.004 g ( P = 0.64) between the two groups. Similarly, the whole body BMC difference between the two groups (0.001 g) was not statistically significant ( P = 0.55). Mean spine BMC measurements in the case-control evaluation were 21.1 g (9.7 g) (patients), and 22.3 g (6.9 g) (controls). Whole body BMC measurements of patients and controls were 1258.5 g (539.6 g) and 1311.1 g (479.2 g), respectively. In both cases the differences were not significant. The duration of HIV infection did not relate to BMC values. In conclusion, horizontally HIV-infected children naïve to antiretroviral therapy have bone mineral measurements comparable to those of healthy children.