Tesamorelin: reading the visceral fat trials

Tesamorelin is a GHRH analog that was FDA-approved in 2010 as Egrifta, for reducing excess belly fat in people with HIV-associated lipodystrophy. It has one of the better human trial records of the GH-axis peptides. Key papers: 1. Spooner & Olin (Ann Pharmacother, 2012), a review of the compound and its trials. https://doi.org/10.1345/aph.1Q629 2. Falutz et al. (JCEM, 2010), pooled Phase 3 results on visceral fat in HIV lipodystrophy. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2010-0490 3. Fourman et al. (JCI Insight, 2020), on tesamorelin and liver gene-expression changes in fatty liver disease. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.140134 A point often missed: in the trials much of the visceral fat reduction came back after treatment stopped. For discussion: how far can findings in HIV lipodystrophy be generalised to other groups? The full write-up is in Guides: Tesamorelin Research.