Latest studies
Every paper our editors flag with a plain-language note and an evidence rating. Filter by evidence, species, or design to find what actually applies to you.
- Study · TesamorelinWeak / none
The effect of growth hormone-releasing hormone on cognition and brain connectivity in adults with cognition ranging from normal to mild cognitive impairment.
This is a small double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot trial (22 adults) of low-dose tesamorelin, a growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) analog, tested for effects on cognition and brain connectivity across a spectrum from normal cognition to mild cognitive impairment. Researchers reported that 10 weeks of low-dose (1 mg) tesamorelin was not associated with statistically significant changes in the prespecified measures of body composition, cognition, sleep, or imaging. Using exploratory machine-learning analysis, the authors identified possible treatment-related differences in specific brain regions. Weigh this cautiously: the trial was a pilot, underpowered, used a lower dose than the approved 2 mg, and the imaging signals are hypothesis-generating rather than confirmatory. It sits at the periphery of tesamorelin's established evidence base, which centers on visceral-fat reduction in HIV-associated lipodystrophy.
eNeurologicalScin=—HumanSep 1, 2026 - Study · TesamorelinWeak / none
Tesamorelin as an Adjunct to Exercise for Improving Physical Function in HIV (TRIUMPH): a clinical trial protocol.
This is a study protocol, not results — a distinction that governs how to read it. TRIUMPH is a two-site, double-blind randomized trial that will test tesamorelin (a growth hormone-releasing hormone analogue) versus placebo, added to a home-based exercise program, in 100 sedentary older adults (50-80) living with HIV who are frail or at risk and carry excess abdominal fat. Tesamorelin is the intervention, so relevance to our coverage is high, and the design — randomized, placebo-controlled, blinded — is rigorous. But because this is only the trial's blueprint, there are no findings to report: outcomes on physical function, muscle content and quality, quality of life, and mitochondrial function at weeks 24 and 48 are planned, not observed. Tesamorelin's established human evidence sits in HIV-associated visceral fat reduction; extending it to physical function and frailty is a reasonable and novel hypothesis this trial will test. For readers, the value is a forward look at a well-designed study to watch (NCT06554717); no efficacy conclusions can be drawn yet.
BMJ openn=——Jul 8, 2026 - Study · TesamorelinWeak / none
Differing Presentations of Excess Visceral Abdominal Fat in People Living With HIV: Two Clinical Cases Highlighting Distinct Therapeutic Pathways With Tesamorelin and Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists.
This is a two-patient case report contrasting therapeutic paths for excess visceral abdominal fat in people living with HIV. Researchers described one non-obese patient whose increased waist circumference and lipids improved on tesamorelin (a GHRH analog that selectively lowers visceral fat), and a second, higher-BMI patient whose visceral fat persisted on an intermittently used GLP-1 receptor agonist until tesamorelin was added. Case reports are the weakest design tier — no control group, no randomization, and outcomes reflect individual clinical narratives rather than population estimates. Still, the cases illustrate a clinically meaningful point consistent with the broader tesamorelin evidence base: visceral adiposity can persist independent of BMI and may respond differently to a visceral-fat-selective agent than to a generalized weight-loss agent. Read it as illustrative context, not evidence of comparative efficacy.
Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of American=—HumanMay 15, 2026 - Study · SemaglutideMixed
Injectable Peptides in Sports Medicine: A Structured Narrative Review of Evidence, Safety, and Antidoping Implications.
A structured narrative review in a peer-reviewed orthopaedic journal surveying injectable peptides promoted for musculoskeletal recovery. Narrative reviews are synthesis, not new data, and this one is graded Level V (expert synthesis over predominantly low-quality evidence), so it frames the landscape rather than settling any single question. The authors reported that GLP-1 receptor agonists such as semaglutide are the only class here with reproducible randomised evidence of symptomatic improvement in knee osteoarthritis, and that the benefit appears mediated by weight loss and possible anti-inflammatory effects rather than any structural cartilage change, which remains unproven. Crucially, the review places the regenerative and growth-hormone-axis peptides, BPC-157, thymosin derivatives, CJC-1295, ipamorelin and tesamorelin, as investigational, with uncertain safety, product-quality concerns and anti-doping restrictions. Its bottom line is restraint: outside approved metabolic agents for their indicated uses, injectable peptides in sports medicine remain experimental and warrant counselling on uncertain efficacy and contamination and doping risks.
JBJS reviewsn=——May 1, 2026 - Study · SS-31Weak / none
Safety and Efficacy of Approved and Unapproved Peptide Therapies for Musculoskeletal Injuries and Athletic Performance.
This narrative review in Sports Medicine surveys the pharmacological profiles, regulatory standing, and safety data for eleven peptides marketed to athletes and patients seeking injury recovery — ranging from FDA-approved tesamorelin to unapproved compounds such as BPC-157, TB-500, and MOTS-c. The authors' central finding is that a substantial regulatory gap exists: while some peptides (tesamorelin, sermorelin historically) have cleared rigorous approval processes for specific indications, many others circulate in a gray market supported primarily by animal-model data and amplified by social media. A narrative review design is worth flagging. Unlike a systematic review or meta-analysis, it does not involve exhaustive literature search protocols or pooled effect-size estimates, which means it reflects editorial judgment about which evidence to emphasise. That is appropriate for a broad landscape survey but limits the precision of any efficacy conclusions. The key caveat — which the authors acknowledge directly — is that favorable preclinical signals in rodent tissue-repair and metabolic models do not reliably translate to human outcomes. The review also raises an...
Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)n=——Apr 12, 2026 - Study · TesamorelinWeak / none
Analysis of growth hormone releasing hormone and its analogs in urine using nano liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole/orbitrap mass spectrometry.
This is an analytical-chemistry paper, not a study of what these peptides do in the body. The researchers developed and validated a laboratory method (nano-liquid chromatography with high-resolution mass spectrometry) to detect GHRH analogues, sermorelin/CJC-1293, tesamorelin, and CJC-1295, plus a sermorelin metabolite in urine, meeting World Anti-Doping Agency requirements. The work's value is forensic: these peptides are prohibited in sport and are hard to catch because they are unstable, cleared quickly, and present at very low urinary concentrations, which this method addresses (detection limits of 0.5 ng/mL or less). For readers, the relevant takeaways are contextual rather than clinical: these compounds are banned in competition and are now detectable in anti-doping testing. The paper reports nothing about efficacy, safety, or dosing of Tesamorelin, Sermorelin, or CJC-1295, and should not be read as evidence of benefit or harm.
Journal of pharmaceutical and biomedical analysisn=——Jan 15, 2026 - Study · TesamorelinMixed
Pharmacologic Treatments for the Preservation of Lean Body Mass During Weight Loss.
This is a narrative review of drug classes being developed to preserve lean body mass during weight loss, prompted by the muscle loss that accompanies GLP-1 and dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor-agonist therapy. Tesamorelin (a GHRH analog) is discussed alongside bimagrumab and enobosarm as one investigational approach. As a narrative review, it synthesizes and frames the literature rather than generating new data, and the authors note most of these agents are in early-phase development. For our readers, the useful takeaway is context: weight loss by any means tends to reduce lean mass, and tesamorelin's growth-hormone-axis mechanism is among the strategies under study to offset that. This is background on a research direction, not evidence that any of these agents preserves muscle in a specific clinical setting.
Journal of clinical medicinen=——Jan 9, 2026 - Study · TesamorelinSupported
Body composition, hepatic fat, metabolic, and safety outcomes of Tesamorelin, a GHRH analogue, in HIV-associated lipodystrophy: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
This is the strongest design tier in the batch: a meta-analysis of five randomized controlled trials of tesamorelin versus placebo in adults with HIV-associated lipodystrophy, with risk of bias assessed by RoB 2.0 and certainty graded by GRADE. Researchers reported that tesamorelin was associated with statistically significant reductions in visceral adipose tissue (about -28 cm2), trunk fat, limb fat, hepatic fat percentage, and waist circumference, plus an increase in lean body mass, with no significant change in subcutaneous fat, BMI, or CD4 counts. Reported adverse events included arthralgia, myalgia, paresthesia, and injection-site reactions. The pooled effects align tightly with tesamorelin's FDA-approved indication and give this finding real weight, though the evidence base is confined to the HIV lipodystrophy population and rests on only five trials. This is well-supported evidence within that specific setting.
Obesity research & clinical practicen=—HumanJan 1, 2026 - Study · TesamorelinWeak / none
Combined antiretroviral therapy with low- or normal-protein, high-calorie diets appears to induce significant deleterious electrocardiographic changes in a rodent model.
This is a preclinical rat study (120 Sprague-Dawley rats) examining how antiretroviral regimens and calorie-dense diets affect the heart's electrical activity and tissue structure, with tesamorelin included as one treatment arm. Researchers reported that dolutegravir-based and classical antiretroviral regimens combined with calorie-dense diets were associated with marked electrocardiographic changes and myocardial fibrosis, and that adding tesamorelin was associated with an absence of these effects. Tesamorelin is a supporting element here rather than the primary focus, and the design is a rodent model — a mechanistic signal implicating the growth-hormone pathway, not clinical proof. These are preclinical findings; human data are needed before clinical conclusions can be drawn. The result is broadly consistent with tesamorelin's known metabolic effects but should be weighted accordingly.
Brazilian journal of medical and biological research = Revista brasileira de pesquisas medicas e biologicasn=—AnimalJan 1, 2026 - Study · AOD-9604Weak / none
The emerging landscape of performance-enhancing peptides modulating GH-IGF1 axis: bridging the gap between clinical evidence and patient self-administration.
This narrative review is directly on-topic for several tracked peptides. It maps the performance-enhancing GH-IGF-1 axis compounds sold as research chemicals, including the GHRH analogues sermorelin, tesamorelin, and CJC-1295 (with and without DAC), and the growth-hormone secretagogues GHRP-6, hexarelin, and ipamorelin. Its central contribution is an evidence-tiering: the authors contrast peer-reviewed pharmacology and clinical data against the online self-administration protocols people actually use, stratifying agents from regulatory-grade trial evidence down to a complete absence of human studies, and they are explicit that performance and body-recomposition benefits remain unproven. They also catalogue reported adverse effects, including prolactin and cortisol elevations, fluid retention, joint and muscle symptoms, and injection-site reactions. As a review it introduces no new data, but for readers weighing these secretagogues it is a sober, caveat-forward map of how thin the human evidence is and what risks have been reported.
Frontiers in endocrinologyn=——Jan 1, 2026 - Study · TesamorelinWeak / none
Injectable Peptide Therapy: A Primer for Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Physicians.
This narrative review in the American Journal of Sports Medicine takes an appropriately cautious inventory of injectable peptide therapy for orthopaedic and sports medicine — a field where patient demand has outpaced clinical evidence considerably. The authors surveyed BPC-157, TB-4/TB-500, CJC-1295 plus ipamorelin, tesamorelin, and GHK-Cu via PubMed and found a consistent pattern: promising preclinical signals, thin or absent human data, and unresolved questions around dosing, frequency, and duration for every compound reviewed. The review's conclusions align well with the broader evidence landscape for these peptides. BPC-157's lone human data point is a methodologically limited case series. Tesamorelin, the most regulation-hardened compound in the group with FDA approval and Phase III RCT backing, earned that standing for HIV-associated lipodystrophy — a narrow indication with no orthopaedic carryover. The murine muscle data for CJC-1295 plus ipamorelin is mechanistically interesting but cannot be extrapolated to clinical use. As a narrative review, this paper synthesises existing literature rather than generating new data — it reflects the state of evidence rather than...
The American journal of sports medicinen=——Jan 1, 2026 - Study · DSIPWeak / none
Therapeutic Peptides in Orthopaedics: Applications, Challenges, and Future Directions.
This narrative review, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons: Global Research & Reviews, surveys the mechanistic rationale for using therapeutic peptides — including BPC-157, TB-500, GHK-Cu, ipamorelin, CJC-1295, tesamorelin, sermorelin, semax, selank, and epitalon — in orthopaedic and musculoskeletal contexts. As a narrative review, it synthesises existing literature rather than generating new data; it carries no experimental controls, no patient cohort, and no statistical analysis of outcomes. Readers should weight it as an expert-curated overview, not as clinical evidence. The review's own authors acknowledge the central limitation plainly: preclinical findings are promising, but clinical trials are currently lacking. That candid admission matters. For most peptides covered — BPC-157, TB-500, ipamorelin, and epitalon in particular — the mechanistic picture is built almost entirely on rodent and in-vitro models. Tesamorelin is the notable exception, carrying FDA approval for HIV-associated lipodystrophy on the basis of Phase III RCT data, though that evidence does not transfer to orthopaedic applications. The review is useful as a...
Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Global research & reviewsn=——Jan 1, 2026 - Study · TesamorelinMixed
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease in people with HIV.
This is a clinical review of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) in people with HIV, in which tesamorelin (a GHRH analog) and GLP-1 receptor agonists are highlighted as therapies showing promise in this specific population. As a narrative review it frames the evidence rather than adding new data. The relevant point for our readers: liver disease in HIV follows a more aggressive course and HIV-specific factors alter its biology, so treatments studied in the general population need dedicated evaluation in HIV — and tesamorelin is among the agents with encouraging HIV-specific data. Read it as an authoritative overview of where tesamorelin fits in the MASLD-HIV treatment landscape, not as trial-level efficacy evidence.
Current opinion in HIV and AIDSn=——Jul 1, 2025 - Study · TesamorelinWeak / none
Effects of Tesamorelin on Neurocognitive Impairment in Persons With HIV and Abdominal Obesity.
This is a 6-month phase 2 randomized open-label trial (73 participants) testing whether tesamorelin improves neurocognitive impairment in virally suppressed people with HIV and abdominal obesity. Researchers reported that the tesamorelin group showed only a non-significant trend toward improved neurocognitive performance, with no significant between-group difference versus standard of care; IGF-1 rose but did not correlate with cognitive change. Tesamorelin was, however, associated with a greater reduction in waist circumference. The authors candidly flag key limitations: the study was underpowered and lacked a placebo arm (open-label design). The honest read is a null cognitive result — short-term abdominal-fat reduction did not translate into clear cognitive benefit — even though the peripheral metabolic effect (waist reduction) was consistent with tesamorelin's established profile.
The Journal of infectious diseasesn=—HumanJun 2, 2025 - Study · TesamorelinWeak / none
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Attributed to Medication Use: A Pharmacovigilance Study.
This is a pharmacovigilance (disproportionality) analysis of the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) identifying drugs statistically over-reported alongside carpal tunnel syndrome. Tesamorelin appeared among ten drugs with a strong signal (reporting odds ratio ~20.7). This design detects associations in spontaneous-reporting data — it cannot establish causation, is subject to reporting bias, and lacks a defined denominator of exposed patients. Still, it is directly relevant to our safety coverage: a growth-hormone-axis mechanism is biologically plausible for carpal tunnel syndrome, and this signal warrants clinician awareness rather than alarm. Frame it as a hypothesis-generating safety signal, not evidence that tesamorelin causes carpal tunnel syndrome. Any peptide page should carry side-effect information above the fold.
Cureusn=——May 1, 2025 - Study · TesamorelinSupported
Efficacy and safety of tesamorelin in people with HIV on integrase inhibitors.
This is a pre-specified analysis of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluating tesamorelin specifically in people with HIV on integrase-inhibitor (INSTI) regimens — an important gap, since tesamorelin's phase III trials predated INSTIs. Among 38 participants on INSTIs at baseline, researchers reported that 12 months of tesamorelin 2 mg was associated with significant declines in visceral fat, hepatic fat fraction, and trunk-to-appendicular fat ratio versus placebo, and was well tolerated with similar adverse-event frequency including hyperglycemia. The sample is small, which widens uncertainty, but the randomized double-blind design and consistency with tesamorelin's established visceral-fat effect make this a credible, supportive finding. It notably shows benefit without worsening glycemic control despite INSTIs' association with weight gain.
AIDS (London, England)n=—HumanOct 1, 2024