In brief
This paper pools the two phase-3 trials of tesamorelin in HIV-associated abdominal fat. Over the first 26 weeks visceral adipose tissue fell by 24 square centimetres on tesamorelin against a rise of 2 on placebo, a treatment effect of about 15 percent, while abdominal subcutaneous fat did not change. Triglycerides fell, and patients reported better body image. In the extension, patients who stayed on tesamorelin for 52 weeks kept their reductions in visceral fat, waist circumference, triglycerides, cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol; those switched to placebo did not. Tesamorelin was generally well tolerated, and there were no clinically meaningful differences in glucose measures between the groups at 26 or 52 weeks. The authors conclude the effect is maintained while treatment continues.
Study design
Pooled analysis of two phase-3 trials: 806 ART-treated HIV patients with excess abdominal fat, 2:1 to daily tesamorelin or placebo for 26 weeks, then a 26-week re-randomised safety extension.
What it does not show
The same specific population as the primary trial, and the fat loss reversed in patients switched to placebo, which the paper reports. It is an analysis of pharmaceutical tesamorelin under trial conditions.
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 — Pooled analysis of two phase 3 trials: the visceral fat reduction held through 52 weeks of continued treatment and reversed on withdrawal.
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 Metabolic effects of a growth hormone-releasing factor in patients with HIV Falutz et al. (2007), N Engl J Med
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.