Progressive resistance training irrespective of whey protein intake improves quality of life in HIV-infected individuals on antiretroviral therapy

Abstract

The study aimed to determine whether a progressive resistance training (PRT) programme and whey protein intake could affect the quality of life (QOL) in HIV-infected individuals receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). Sixty HIV-infected individuals were recruited and randomly assigned to one of three groups; a whey protein/PRT group, a placebo/PRT group, or a control group. Whole-body PRT was performed twice weekly for three months. Participants in the two intervention groups received, in a double-blinded placebo-controlled manner, either 20g of whey or placebo (maltodextrin) pre, and immediately post, each PRT session (40g total). To assess QOL, the WHOQOL-HIV BREF 31 questionnaire was administered at baseline and post the three-month intervention. Forty participants (mean age [SD]: 40.8 [±7.7] years; mean weight: 70.8 [±16] kg; mean BMI: 30.9 [±7.2] kg.m²), randomly assigned to either the whey protein/PRT group (n=13), the placebo/PRT group (n=17) or the control group (n=10), completed the study. Significant improvements were seen in the physical (p = 0.006), social relationships (p = 0.001), and the environmental (p = 0.001) domains, with both the placebo/PRT and whey/PRT groups demonstrating improvements from baseline to post-three months of training. There were no significant changes in the control group for any of the six QOL domains. Improvements were noted in the physical, social and environmental QOL domains of ART-treated HIV-infected individuals who participated in the PRT, regardless of whey protein intake. Supervised exercise training could mitigate the side effects of ART that impair body image and self-esteem, and result in marginalisation and stigmatisation of HIV-infected individuals.