Growth hormone axis treatments for HIV-associated lipodystrophy: a systematic review of placebo-controlled trials.

What It Covers

Researchers studied Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over) and GHRH (Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone) in this systematic review publication.

The aim of the review was to compare the effects of GH axis drugs vs. placebo in changing visceral adipose tissue (VAT), subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and lean body mass (LBM) in patients with HIV-associated lipodystrophy.

Subgroup analyses were performed to assess different GH axis drug classes.

Why It Was Studied

HIV-associated lipodystrophy is a disorder of fat metabolism that occurs in patients with HIV infection.

It can cause metabolic derangements and negative self-perceptions of body image, and result in noncompliance with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

How the Review Was Done

The researchers searched MEDLINE (1996-2009), CENTRAL (Issue 4, 2009), Web of Science, Summons, Google Scholar, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website, and Clinicaltrials.gov from 13 October 2009 to 7 June 2010.

The researchers excluded newspaper articles and book reviews from the Summons search; this was the only search limitation applied.

The researchers also manually reviewed references of included articles.

What Was Measured

Growth hormone (GH) axis drugs have been evaluated for treatment of this disorder, but no systematic review has been conducted previously.

Inclusion criteria were as follows: randomized placebo-controlled trial (RCT); study participants with HIV-associated lipodystrophy; intervention consisting of GH, growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH), tesamorelin or insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1); study including at least one primary outcome of interest: change in VAT, SAT or LBM.

The subject headings attached to it are Adipose Tissue, Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active, Arthralgia, Body Fat Distribution, Diabetes Mellitus, Diabetes Mellitus, Lipoatrophic and Edema.

What This Means in Plain Language

This is a systematic review of Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over) and GHRH (Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone).

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 8 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2011 (HIV medicine), a journal based in England.

More context: the Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over) compound page and the GHRH (Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone) compound page, all human trials.