Tesamorelin

Synthetic analog of GHRH with a trans-3-hexenoic acid modification. FDA-approved for HIV-associated lipodystrophy. Stimulates pulsatile GH release and reduces visceral adipose tissue. Also demonstrated cognitive benefits — improved executive function and verbal memory in clinical trials.

Half-life

26 minutes (IV), extended subcutaneous absorption

Bioavailability

Systemic via subcutaneous injection, ~4% absolute bioavailability

Route

subcutaneous

Evidence tier

T1 — Multiple RCTs

Optimization pillars

fat-loss · anti-aging

References

2 peer-reviewed

Dose ranges

Three tiers ordered by aggressiveness. Tier chips on every OPTIMIZE intervention let you filter the catalog by your evidence tolerance.

conservative

1 mg/day

FDA-approved dose

moderate

1–2 mg/day

Enhanced fat loss

aggressive

2 mg/day

Maximum visceral fat reduction

Monitoring

igf-1
fasting-glucose
fasting-insulin
hba1c
homa-ir

Contraindications

active-cancer
pituitary-tumor
pregnancy
hypersensitivity-to-ghrh

References

PMID:20018825Effects of tesamorelin on body composition and visceral fat in HIV-infected patients — N Engl J Med, 2010
PMID:28747483Effects of tesamorelin on cognition in HIV patients with reduced growth hormone — Neurology, 2017

Notes

Tesamorelin is the only GHRH analog with FDA approval and a New England Journal publication. The visceral fat reduction data is clean — statistically significant, replicated, and specific to the compartment that matters. Visceral fat is metabolically active and pathogenic. Subcutaneous fat is largely inert. Tesamorelin targets the dangerous depot. The cognitive data from the 2017 Neurology paper is an unexpected bonus that changes how you think about GH secretagogues entirely.

This is not medical advice

Discuss with a licensed clinician before starting, stopping, or changing any compound. This page documents what the research literature describes — it is not a prescription.

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