The same drug that reduces belly fat in HIV patients also makes the fat under the skin denser and healthier-looking on scans, even when the amount of fat doesn’t change much.

For HIV patients with belly fat who respond to this drug, the fat becomes denser and healthier-looking on scans after 6 months of treatment, even if the amount of fat doesn’t change much.

The same HIV patients with belly fat who responded to tesamorelin also saw their under-the-skin fat become denser by 3.5 points on CT scans after 26 weeks, regardless of fat amount changes, indicating healthier fat tissue.

If the drug doesn’t shrink your belly fat by at least 8%, it won’t make your fat look healthier on scans — you have to respond to the drug for this benefit.

In HIV patients with belly fat who responded to the drug tesamorelin, the treatment made the visceral fat denser by 2.3 points on a CT scan scale compared to placebo, even after accounting for changes in fat amount.

For HIV patients with belly fat who responded to tesamorelin, the drug made the subcutaneous fat denser by 3.5 points on a CT scan scale compared to placebo, regardless of changes in fat amount.