The effects of aerobic training on the CD4 cells, VO2max, and metabolic parameters in HIV-infected patients: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

To our knowledge, there are no systematic review study with meta-analysis that investigated the influence of training variables on specific outcomes (CD4 cell counts) addressed aerobic training (AT) for HIV+ patients. In this sense, the purpose of this study was to perform a systematic review with meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials on AT in HIV+ patients and to analyze the influence of AT modulating variables on the CD4 cells, VO2max, and metabolic parameters.Searches were performed in the databases PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge, SportDiscus, Lilacs, Science Direct, and Scielo.Twelve studies involving 438 subjects (78.2% male) were included. Overall, the sample was sedentary (pre-training VO2max of 30.5 mL.kg-1.min-1) with a mean time of virus infection of 66.9 months and mean number of CD4 cells of 467.8 cells/mm3. AT increased the VO2max (ES=1050 [0.455 to 1.64]; P<0.001) and CD4 cell count (ES=0.402 [0.203 to 0.601]; P<0.001). AT for 8-12 weeks appears to be sufficient to increase VO2max, and the highest gains are associated with patients who present higher initial CD4 cell values. There was no difference to metabolic parameters.AT did not change the metabolic parameters, but it was AT is able to promote a greater magnitude of improvement in VO2max in the initial weeks of training and a greater increase in the number of CD4 cells in patients who present a better immune condition prior to training.