Factors Mediating Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis and Metabolic Disease in HIV Patients.

This is a prospective cohort and cross-sectional case-control study. Study participation will last up to 2 months and 93 participants will be enrolled. Participants will be evaluated for lipodystrophy, asked to complete food \& gastrointestinal symptoms questionnaires and provide stool samples. A subset of participants will be asked to have a flexible sigmoidoscopy (mucosal biopsy). Cohort A will consist of 93 participants: Cohort A1: ART (Antiretroviral therapy) -treated HIV-infected individuals with lipodystrophy (n=35) Cohort A2: ART-treated HIV-infected individuals without lipodystrophy (n=18) Cohort A3: HIV-1 infected individuals naïve to ART (n=20) Cohort A4: HIV-1 seronegative individuals who are at a high risk for infection (n=20) Cohort B will be a selected subset of subjects from Cohort A: Cohort B1: ART-treated HIV-infected individuals with HIV-associated dysbiosis (n=10) Cohort B2: ART-treated HIV-infected individuals without HIV-associated dysbiosis (n=10)