How HIV integrase drugs affect weight and heart health differently by sex
Official title: SPPACE INSTI Study: Sex-specific Predictors, Pathways, And Cardiometabolic Effects of Weight Gain Associated with Integrase Strand-Transfer Inhibitors
Funded at Emory University · NIH-11046593 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This work looks at why people with HIV—especially women—often gain weight on integrase-based HIV medicines and how that weight gain may harm heart and metabolic health.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Emory University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Atlanta, United States) |
| Project start | March 2, 2021 |
| Project end | February 28, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $676,556 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DK125246-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11046593 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People living with HIV who are on antiretroviral therapy—particularly women considering switching to or already taking integrase inhibitor drugs—are the ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People without HIV or those not taking or switching to INSTI-class HIV drugs are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this work.
What this research studies
If you join, researchers will use long-running HIV cohort data and biological samples to compare people who switch to integrase strand-transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) with those who stay on other HIV medicines. They will track weight, body fat measures, blood pressure, blood sugar, and heart disease risk over time and analyze blood biomarkers and metabolites linked to insulin resistance and inflammation. The team will pay special attention to differences between women and men and how long weight changes last. Results aim to explain mechanisms and the longer-term cardiometabolic consequences of INSTI-associated weight gain.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could help clinicians choose HIV medicines and manage weight, diabetes risk, and heart health more effectively for people with HIV, especially women.
How similar studies have gone: Prior clinical observations have consistently reported weight gain after starting INSTIs, but the sex-specific biological mechanisms and long-term cardiometabolic effects remain incompletely understood.
Where this research is happening
-
Emory University
Atlanta, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Lahiri, Cecile Delille — Emory University
- Study coordinator: Lahiri, Cecile Delille
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.