2.3. Assessments
fat-free mass, FM
THORACIC
Cardiorespiratory fitness was tested during a 6-min walking test (6MWT) in a well-ventilated corridor at a temperature of 20–22 °C, between 8.30 a.m. and 12.00 p.m., at the same time of the day (±1 h) for W0 and W18. Participants were invited to arrive for the 6MWT at rest and well hydrated; to refrain from caffeine and alcohol during the 24 h before the test; and take their usual medication. 6MWT was performed according to the standardized guidelines of the American Thoracic Society [Body composition included height, body mass, body mass index (BMI), and percentage of fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM) by bioimpedentiometry (BIA 101 BIVA PRO, Akern srl, Pisa, Italy).The laboratory parameters included the complete blood cell count, fasting total-, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, insulin-glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), creatinine, alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4+) and cluster of differentiation 8 (CD8+) T-cell counts, and HIV-1-RNA plasma level (Abbott Real Time HIV-1 assay). The Veterans Aging Cohort Study Risk (VACS) index, which estimates the risk of 5-year all-cause mortality in persons with HIV, was also evaluated [The psychological parameters were assessed by validated Italian version questionnaires such as the Profile of Mood States (POMS) [