Infectious Diseases and Movement Program: Study of the Effects of Physical Activity on HIV Infection

Many studies document that exercise and physical activity can have an anti-inflammatory effect, while there is evidence that a sedentary lifestyle could be the basis for the development of systemic inflammation and increased cardiovascular risk. This occurs because a sedentary lifestyle leads to the accumulation of visceral fat, and this is accompanied by an increase in adipokine release and infiltration of adipose tissue by the pro-inflammatory immune cells. Furthermore, the imbalance between immune processes and metabolic processes is associated with the development of insulin resistance, atherosclerosis and neurodegeneration.

The primary objective is to assess whether regular physical activity is able to induce a decrease in systemic immune-activation in HIV positive patients.

To evaluate this hypothesis, the following parameters will be analyzed: evaluation of immune-activation levels, of metabolic parameters, of cardiac function, of immuno-virological set-up, of dietary intake and of physical performance indices in HIV-positive patients with a sedentary lifestyle; these data will be compared with the values measured in the same HIV positive population with a sedentary lifestyle after three months of regular physical activity.