The drug made two key core muscles—rectus and psoas—slightly bigger, adding about half a square inch each after six months, while the placebo group didn’t change.

HIV patients with belly fat who responded to tesamorelin had bigger rectus and psoas muscles (0.44 and 0.46 cm² larger) compared to placebo after 26 weeks.

People with HIV and belly fat who responded to tesamorelin by losing belly fat saw their rectus and psoas muscles grow 0.44 cm² and 0.46 cm² larger than those on placebo after 26 weeks of treatment.

Tesamorelin increased rectus and psoas muscle size by 0.44 and 0.46 cm² in people with HIV and belly fat, and this effect remained even after accounting for belly fat loss.

People with HIV and belly fat who responded to tesamorelin by losing belly fat saw their trunk muscles grow larger in specific areas: rectus abdominis by 0.85 cm², psoas by 0.64 cm², and others by up to 1.08 cm² more than those on placebo after 26 weeks.

This drug didn’t just make muscles less fatty—it also made them bigger in size, adding about half a square inch of lean muscle in the core area after six months.