Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, HIV, JAMA, Weight Research / 21.07.2014
Growth Hormone Stimulator Decreased Abdominal and Liver Fat in HIV Patients
MedicalResearch.com Interview with
Steven Grinspoon, MD
Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Director, MGH Program in Nutritional Metabolism
Co-Director, Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA 02114
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Grinspoon: The primary finding is that tesamorelin, a hypothalamic peptide that increases the endogenous pulsatile secretion of growth hormone, reduced liver fat in HIV-infected patients with increased visceral (abdominal) fat. Increased visceral fat is very closely linked with increased liver fat in HIV patients, but the effects on liver fat were not known. Our data show that tesamorelin reduces liver fat in conjunction with decreasing visceral fat, which may be clinically important for patients with HIV-infection who have both increased abdominal fat and fatty liver disease. In addition the study demonstrated that this treatment strategy was neutral to glucose by the end of the 6 month study.
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