Hello Dr. Henry, I heard from the latest CROI that a group from Case Western U has shown that Avandia can help people with subcutaneous fat loss regain some fat in their limbs. I was wondering if this would be a good drug to take as I've lost a lot of subcu fat. I'm Asian, 47 yo, have been poz for 7 years, originally took D4T but switched out of it after a year, now on Isentress, Sustiva and Viread. I still seem to slowly lose subcu fat though. All my blood chemistry is normal and my VL has been undetectable all this time. I'd like your opinion on this, or if you have any other suggestions with my problem. Thanks a lot!

The results of use of rosiglitazone for fat loss presented at CROI were positive but only modestly so. The control group (taking effective HIV meds but not AZT or D4T) also gained modest amounts of fat. Much of the data using glitizides for fat loss is murky and not clear. Those drugs have cost and side effects and long term effectiveness remains unclear. One patient in the Case study had to stop rosiglitazone due to possible worsening of heart disease (a known side effect of that drug). I have tried use of rosiglitizone is several patients with variable results so it something to consider since options are limited. KH