home / compounds / Tesamorelin
Tesamorelin
Egrifta
REC PPT-TESAMORELIN // REV 2026-10-04 // assessment changes are logged, never silent
Approved GHRH analogue for HIV-associated lipodystrophy — a narrow, real indication.
What it is
A stabilised GHRH analogue approved for reducing excess visceral abdominal fat in HIV-associated lipodystrophy.
What it does
Stimulates endogenous growth-hormone release, with trial-demonstrated reduction in visceral adipose tissue.
Does it work?
Unusually well evidenced for a growth-hormone-axis peptide, but the approval is for a specific patient population. Extrapolating that to general fat loss in healthy adults is not supported by the approval data.
Claims vs data
Each marketing claim, tagged by what the evidence actually supports.
| Reduces visceral fat in HIV-associated lipodystrophy | supported |
| Produces general fat loss in healthy adults | weak evidence |
| Improves cognition in ageing | weak evidence |
Reference figures
Quoted from published reference material. These are not Peptuity recommendations.
molecular data — PubChem CID 16137828
The evidence, counted
Live counts from Europe PMC and ClinicalTrials.gov.
371 publications indexed, including 38 randomised controlled trials. 21 interventional studies registered. This is a well-tested compound.
SRC // EUROPE PMC + CTGOV // "Tesamorelin" // FETCHED 2026-10-04 // 371 RECORDS
Most-cited literature
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[01]
AASLD Practice Guidance on the clinical assessment and management of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
Rinella ME, Neuschwander-Tetri BA, Siddiqui MS, Abdelmalek MF, Caldwel · Hepatology 2023 · 1874 citations · DOI 10.1097/hep.0000000000000323
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[02]
An official American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society statement: update on limb muscle dysfunction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Maltais F, Decramer M, Casaburi R, Barreiro E, Burelle Y, Debigaré R, · Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2014 · 754 citations · DOI 10.1164/rccm.201402-0373st
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[03]
THE CONCISE GUIDE TO PHARMACOLOGY 2017/18: G protein-coupled receptors
Alexander SP, Christopoulos A, Davenport AP, Kelly E, Marrion NV, Pete · Br J Pharmacol 2017 · 521 citations · DOI 10.1111/bph.13878
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[04]
G protein-coupled receptors: structure- and function-based drug discovery
Yang D, Zhou Q, Labroska V, Qin S, Darbalaei S, Wu Y, Yuliantie E, Xie · Signal Transduct Target Ther 2021 · 519 citations · DOI 10.1038/s41392-020-00435-w
Regulatory status
Formal, dated regulatory actions.
WADA — Prohibited List 2026
Prohibited in sport — WADA S2 (peptide hormones, growth factors and related substances)
Common questions
What exactly is tesamorelin approved for?
Reduction of excess visceral abdominal fat in HIV-associated lipodystrophy, under the brand Egrifta. A narrow, real, trial-backed indication.
Does that mean it burns fat in everyone?
No. The approval data comes from a specific patient population. Extrapolating to general fat loss in healthy adults is not supported by that data.
Is it a prescription medicine?
Yes, in the markets where it is approved. Vialled research-grade tesamorelin sits outside that regulatory channel.
Related compounds
Sermorelin
GHRH fragment with a long clinical history, once used diagnostically.
Ipamorelin
Selective growth-hormone secretagogue. Raises GH; downstream benefits less proven.
Tesamorelin / Ipamorelin blend
GHRH plus secretagogue stack. Components studied separately, not together.
AOD-9604
Growth-hormone fragment. Human trials did not show meaningful weight loss.