Important note: Information in this article was accurate in August 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
In non-HIV-positive people with increased fat deposits on their abdomen, the average production of growth hormone (GH) is less than that seen in people without excess abdominal fat. Small studies have found that giving GH to HIV-negative men has reduced abdominal fat. Doctors in San Francisco thought that giving low-dose GH to HIV-positive subjects with lipodystrophy might help them to lose excess fat.
Researchers recruited four subjects with buffalo humps and three others with increased abdominal fat for this study. All subjects injected themselves with 3 mg of GH under the skin, every day for six months. During the study, nurses and technicians performed a variety of tests to help assess the effectiveness of GH therapy.
Two subjects left the study, one because of high blood sugar levels due to GH and another because he left San Francisco. The remaining five subjects completed the study. All five subjects had their buffalo humps or abdominal fat decrease. On average, subjects lost an average of 4.4 kg of fat and gained about 5.4 kg of muscle. One subject had to decrease the dose of GH used to 1.5 mg per day because of joint pain, a recognized side effect of GH therapy.
During the first month of GH use, subjects developed insulin resistance, but this cleared by the sixth month. Because insulin resistance causes blood sugar (glucose) levels to increase, the researchers suggest that potential GH users be given oral glucose tolerance tests before starting therapy.
1. Lo JC, Mulligan K, Noor M, et al. The effects of recombinant human growth hormone on glucose metabolism and body composition in HIV-positive subjects with fat accumulation syndromes. Abstract 012.
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