Background: Lipodystrophy and other fat distribution disorders have been reported in patients receiving protease inhibitor therapy for HIV infection.
Case report: A 50-year-old HIV-positive patient was given protease inhibitor therapy (indinavir) for 6 months when he developed a lipomatous formation in the retrocervical area. Abdominal fat also increased in volume and the subcutaneous fat on the lower limbs decreased.
Discussion: We describe the main clinical features of these fat distribution disorders and discuss the pathogenic hypothesis of an interaction between antiprotease activity and hepatic lipoprotein receptor binding.