Tesamorelin is a synthetic hormone that tells your body to release more growth hormone. In a large trial it helped people with HIV shrink the dangerous belly fat around their organs and was generally safe, but it didn’t show strong benefits for other health problems.

The combination of clinical effectiveness with a variety of adverse side effects from the use of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) in therapy for growth hormone (GH)-deficient disorders has led to the development of human growth hormone releasing factor (GFR) analogues, which may be better tolerated. Tesamorelin, a synthetic GFR, has been developed as a potential treatment for a variety of conditions that may be associated with a relative deficiency of GH including HIV-related lipodystrophy. This article reviews the development of tesamorelin and its purported role in HIV-related lipodystrophy and other potential indications. Relevant articles and abstracts were obtained from searches of the medical and chemical literature databases and the references from published articles. A multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, Phase III clinical trial suggested that tesamorelin might be a beneficial treatment strategy for HIV-related lipodystrophy with a good safety profile and a positive effect on reducing visceral fat. Other potential indications for tesamorelin appear less promising from the current data.