In brief
Antiretroviral therapy can drive an accumulation of visceral fat that raises cardiovascular risk. This New England Journal trial gave 412 patients with HIV and excess abdominal fat, 86 percent of them men, a daily injection of tesamorelin (a growth-hormone-releasing-factor analogue) or placebo for 26 weeks, with visceral adipose tissue measured by CT as the primary endpoint. Visceral fat fell 15.2 percent on tesamorelin and rose 5.0 percent on placebo. Triglycerides fell by 50 milligrams per decilitre versus a rise of 9, the total-to-HDL cholesterol ratio fell by 0.31 versus a rise of 0.21, and IGF-I rose 81 percent versus a 5 percent fall. Total and HDL cholesterol also improved. The authors conclude tesamorelin reduces visceral fat in this specific patient group.
Study design
Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial: 412 people with HIV and treatment-associated abdominal fat, daily subcutaneous tesamorelin or placebo for 26 weeks.
What it does not show
A specific population, HIV-associated lipodystrophy, and 26 weeks of a pharmaceutical product. The study does not address people without HIV, and its lipid changes accompany, rather than replace, standard care.
A clinical trial tests a pharmaceutical form of a compound, in a defined patient group, under medical supervision, with a defined endpoint. None of that transfers to a research-grade vial, and this page does not suggest it does.
Where this paper is cited
- Tesamorelin — HIV patients with abdominal fat accumulation, 26 weeks: visceral adipose tissue fell about 15% against a rise on placebo.
Other papers cited for Tesamorelin
- Study in humans Effects of tesamorelin on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in HIV: a randomised, double-blind, multicentre trial Stanley et al. (2019), Lancet HIV
- Study in humans Effects of tesamorelin (TH9507), a growth hormone-releasing factor analog, in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients with excess abdominal fat: a pooled analysis of two multicenter, double-blind placebo-controlled phase 3 trials with safety extension data Falutz et al. (2010), J Clin Endocrinol Metab
Further reading
- Research library: every paper cited on this site, by compound and by study type.
- Growth hormone secretagogue comparison
- How to read a certificate of analysis
- Lyophilised peptide storage and stability
How this page was made: the citation was retrieved from PubMed by PMID and checked against the title on the product page; the summary was written from the paper's abstract and reports only what the abstract reports. Read the paper itself before relying on any figure here.