Tesamorelin increases muscle area and density, especially in core muscles like abs and spinal extensors, while reducing fat infiltration inside the muscle, which is important for metabolic health.
Scientific Claim
Tesamorelin increases muscle area and density in key trunk muscles (including rectus abdominis, psoas, spinal extensors, diaphragm, and pelvic floor) while reducing intramuscular fat infiltration, improving muscle quality and metabolic function.
Original Statement
“Fat doesn't just accumulate around organs. It infiltrates muscle as well and that matters. It really matters a lot. These intramyocellular lipids are important. I talked to Dr. Sha Omera about this on my channel. It was a fascinating conversation and in 2019 there was a study in journal of frailty and aging and this study looked at muscle area and muscle density in people that they treated with tessimarellin. They found increases in both. Okay, so they had increases in cross-sectional area of muscle but also in their density. What they specifically found is that tessamearellin increased the area and density of key trunk muscles like in our core. So the abs, the spinal extensors, the diaphragm, the pelvic floor while muscle fat infiltration decreased.”
Context Details
Domain
pharmacology
Population
human
Subject
tesamorelin
Action
increases
Target
muscle area and density while reducing intramuscular fat infiltration
Intervention Details
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (2)
The Growth Hormone Releasing Hormone Analogue, Tesamorelin, Decreases Muscle Fat and Increases Muscle Area in Adults with HIV
This study shows that Tesamorelin helps improve muscle quality and quantity in people with HIV, which supports the claim.
Randomized Clinical Trial of High Intensity Exercise in People with HIV: Effects on Muscle Composition and Inflammation.
This study shows that exercise can help improve muscle in people with HIV, which supports the idea that Tesamorelin, as a treatment, could have similar effects.
Contradicting (2)
Tesamorelin improves fat quality independent of changes in fat quantity
This study only looked at whether tesamorelin makes fat healthier, not whether it makes muscles bigger or stronger — so it doesn’t support the claim about muscle changes.
The effects of tesamorelin on phosphocreatine recovery in obese subjects with reduced GH.
This study found that tesamorelin helped muscles use energy better, but it didn’t measure whether the muscles got bigger, denser, or had less fat inside them—as the claim says.