HIV patients with high liver enzymes who lost visceral fat from the drug kept their liver enzyme levels improved for a full year even after stopping the drug and some fat coming back.

Scientific Claim

In HIV-infected patients with elevated liver enzymes who achieved a ≥8% visceral adipose tissue (VAT) reduction during tesamorelin treatment, improvements in alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels persisted for 52 weeks despite partial VAT reaccumulation after discontinuation of the drug.

Original Statement

“This improvement among VAT responders persisted over 52 weeks even in those switched to placebo despite a partial re-accumulation of VAT.”

From study:Visceral fat reduction with tesamorelin is associated with improved liver enzymes in HIV

Evidence Quality Assessment

Claim Status

appropriately stated

Study Design Support

Design supports claim

Appropriate Language Strength

association

Can only show association/correlation

Assessment Explanation

The claim describes the observed persistence of improvements without implying causation, using 'persisted' which is appropriate for a descriptive finding.

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

Visceral fat reduction with tesamorelin is associated with improved liver enzymes in HIV

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2017 Oct 23

Contradicting (0)

No contradicting evidence found

Source Study

Visceral fat reduction with tesamorelin is associated with improved liver enzymes in HIV

Score: 62

DOI: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000001614

Similar Assertions

For people with HIV and belly fat who have high liver enzyme levels, those who lost at least 8% of their visceral fat from tesamorelin treatment had much bigger drops in their liver enzyme levels compared to those who didn't lose much fat.

92%

HIV patients with high liver enzymes who lost at least 8% visceral fat after taking tesamorelin saw their ALT drop by about 9 units on average, while those without fat loss had a slight increase, showing a clear benefit from fat reduction.

90%

Even after stopping tesamorelin and some fat coming back, the liver enzyme improvements stayed for a year in patients who initially lost visceral fat.

90%

HIV patients with high ALT who lost visceral fat had a 35% chance of normalizing their ALT levels after 6 months, compared to 18% who didn't lose fat, showing a clear benefit.

89%

For people with HIV and belly fat who have high liver enzyme levels, those who lost at least 8% of their visceral fat from the drug had much bigger drops in their liver enzyme numbers compared to those who didn't lose much fat, and this difference was statistically significant.

89%