The Growth Hormone Releasing Hormone Analogue, Tesamorelin, Decreases Muscle Fat and Increases Muscle Area in Adults with HIV

Adrian S, Scherzinger A, Sanyal A, Lake JE, Falutz J, Dubé MP, Stanley T, Grinspoon S, Mamputu JC, Marsolais C, Brown TT, Erlandson KM · The Journal of Frailty & Aging

Trunk muscle density on CT rose more on tesamorelin than placebo in all four muscle groups measured (adjusted coefficients 1.56 to 4.86 Hounsfield units, all p under 0.005), and lean muscle area rose in all four (0.64 to 1.08 square centimetres). The density change was largely explained by the fall in visceral fat and was independent of IGF-1; the area change was independent of visceral fat and largely explained by IGF-1. No measure of strength or function was collected in either trial.

Population

Adults with HIV and abdominal fat accumulation from two completed phase 3 trials, mean age 48, 87 percent male; the tesamorelin arm restricted to responders whose visceral fat fell at least 8 percent

Intervention

Tesamorelin 2 mg subcutaneously daily for 26 weeks (193 responders with paired CT scans)

Comparator

Placebo (148 with paired scans)

Limitations

An exploratory secondary analysis restricted to the treatment arm's responders, which undoes the randomisation, in a population that is mostly men under 50 with HIV; muscle density and area differed between arms at baseline and were adjusted for; many comparisons were made. Theratechnologies supplied the trial data and its employees approved the manuscript; the analysis itself was funded by the National Institutes of Health. Nothing here concerns a joint.