TITLE:
Weight Gain Following Dolutegravir Based Antiretroviral Therapy in HIV-Naive Patients: A Comparative Study at the Ambulatory Treatment Center of the Regional Hospital of Kaolack (Senegal)
AUTHORS:
Aminata Massaly, Aboubakar Sidikh Badiane, Ndeye Maguette Fall, Khardiata Diallo Mbaye, Ndeye Aissatou Lakhe, Daouda Thioub, Assane Diouf, Viviane Marie Pierre Ciss, Daye Ka, Louise Fortes, Cheikh Tidiane Ndour, Moussa Seydi
KEYWORDS:
Weight Gain, Antiretrovirals, Dolutegravir, Kaolack, Senegal
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Infectious Diseases,
Vol.16 No.1,
March
13,
2026
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Initiation of antiretroviral therapy is often associated with weight gain. The objective of this study is to compare weight gain at 12 and 24 months after initiation of dolutegravir-based ART with other regimens and to determine the factors associated with weight gain of more than 10% at 24 months. Methods: We conducted an observational, longitudinal and retrospective study of a cohort of people living with HIV followed at Kaolack Regional Hospital between January 2015, and July 2023. Patients were divided into two groups: one group of patients receiving TLD and a second group receiving a regimen based on non-nucleoside inhibitors or protease inhibitors. In multivariate analysis, logistic regression was performed to determine the factors associated with weight gain greater than or equal to 10%. Results: Among the 203 patients who met the inclusion criteria, 70 were on a Dolutegravir-based regimen and 133 were on a non-nucleoside inhibitor or protease inhibitor-based regimen. The average age was 45 years ± 11.5 years, and women accounted for 73.5% of the population. More than half of the patients were classified as stage 3 or 4 according to the WHO clinical classification. The average weight change at 24 months was +8.51 kg for patients on dolutegravir versus +7.24 kg for patients on other regimens. A weight gain greater than or equal to 10% at 24 months was observed in 58.1% of patients, and the factors associated with this gain were female gender (OR: 1.98 (95% CI: 1.01 - 3.90); p = 0.04) and WHO clinical stage 3 and 4 (OR: 4.03 (95% CI: 1.30 - 7.04); p Conclusion: We report greater weight gain in patients on Dolutegravir-based regimens compared to other non-nucleoside and protease inhibitor-based regimens. However, DTG is not significantly associated with excessive weight gain in this cohort of HIV-positive patients.