Effects of Growth Hormone on Abnormal Visceral Adipose Tissue Accumulation and Dyslipidemia in HIV-Infected Patients

BACKGROUNDSome HIV-infected patients develop fat maldistribution with visceral adipose tissue (VAT) accumulation and metabolic abnormalities. No medical treatment is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to reduce VAT. METHODSIn this double-blind trial, 245 HIV-infected patients with excess VAT were randomized to receive placebo (PL), recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH) at a dose of 4 mg daily (DD) or 4 mg on alternate days (AD) for 12 weeks. For weeks 12 to 24, DD patients were rerandomized to PL (DD-PL) or AD (DD-AD), AD patients continued on AD (AD-AD), and PL patients were switched to DD (PL-DD). RESULTSFrom baseline to week 12, VAT decreased significantly compared with PL in DD (−8.6%, P < 0.001) but not in AD (−4.2%, P = 0.052). Trunk-to-limb fat ratio decreased significantly in both (P < 0.001) compared with PL, as did total cholesterol and non–high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (−4.5% and −7.5% in DD, −4.3% and −6.2% in AD). At week 24, all groups displayed significant (P < 0.05) reductions in VAT (−5.3% to −9.5%) and trunk fat (−7.8% to −22.8%). DD-AD and AD-AD also displayed significant (P < 0.05) reductions in non-HDL cholesterol. CONCLUSIONSThese results suggest that r-hGH dosed at 4 mg daily for 12 weeks decreases VAT and cholesterol concentrations in HIV-infected patients with excess VAT. The optimal regimen to sustain these effects awaits determination.