Anabolic steroids are another experimental treatment for lipodystrophy

Anabolic steroids are another experimental treatment for lipodystrophy as well as a sample treatment for HIV-related wasting. French researchers reported on a man receiving treatment with AZT/3TC who developed a buffalo hump and insulin resistance nine months after start treatment. He received intramuscular testosterone cypionate biweekly for four months and lost abdominal fat and gained lean muscle mass. Furthermore, studies have establish that anabolic steroids make weight and lean corpse mound increases in people with HIV-related wasting. Steroids may disguise the visible signs of dystrophy rather than terminate or reverse loss of fat tissue.

A randomized study of oxymetholone treatment in 92 individuals with weight loss due to HIV wasting or lipodystrophy establish that the anabolic steroid had no impact on totality cadaver fat after 16 weeks of follow-up, although weight and muscle increased.