The effect of growth hormone-releasing hormone on cognition and brain connectivity in adults with cognition ranging from normal to mild cognitive impairment.

Double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot clinical trial

“In a double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot trial, we assessed 22 subjects with baseline cognition ranging from normal cognition to mild cognitive impairment before and after 10 weeks of treatment with low-dose tesamorelin (1 mg; GHRH analog) or placebo.”

Adults aged 55 to 85 years with cognition ranging from normal to mild cognitive impairment

“The primary objective of this double-blind placebo-controlled study was to investigate the effects of the growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH) analog tesamorelin (Egrifta®) on cognitive function in 55- to 85-year-old subjects with cognition ranging from MCI to normal.”

22 subjects (12 placebo, 10 GHRH)

“Baseline data was collected on 24 subjects and final analysis was conducted on 22 subjects which included 12 subjects in the placebo group (5 male, 7 female) and 10 subjects in the GHRH group (5 male, 5 female).”

10 weeks

“The present study employed a 10-week treatment duration to determine whether cognitive effects may arise within a shorter, more clinically practical timeframe.”

Machine learning models identified potential treatment-related differences in brain areas related to cognitive function, including the right anterior cingulate and left superior frontal occipital fasciculus.

“Using advanced machine learning (ML) models to further examine the data we identified potential treatment-related differences in areas of the brain related to cognitive function including the right anterior cingulate and left superior frontal occipital fasciculus.”