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The accumulation of visceral fat is one of the most vexing morphologic abnormalities associated with HIV infection and antiretroviral therapy (ART). Such fat deposits are uncomfortable and disfiguring and may the raise the risk for cardiovascular disease. Might tesamorelin, a growth hormone–releasing factor, be a potential treatment for this condition?
To address this question, investigators conducted an industry-funded, multisite, clinical trial among 412 HIV-infected patients who were receiving ART and had accumulations of abdominal fat (defined, for men, as a waist circumference ≥95 cm and a waist-to-hip ratio ≥0.94, and, for women, as a waist circumference ≥94 cm and a waist-to-hip ratio ≥0.88). Patients were randomized in a 2:1 ratio to…