Low-dose injections with human growth hormone can reverse some of the abnormal fat distribution caused by HIV therapy, researchers said in a new study released in conjunction with the International AIDS Conference Meeting. But the treatment has negative consequences as well, such as the fact that it produces an unnecessary risk for those with early stages of diabetes.

The hormone treatment produces good results, reducing fat deposits around internal abdominal organs by about 10 percent, but it would have to be used very carefully to avoid inducing diabetes, said study co-author Dr. Steven Grinspoon of Massachusetts General Hospital.

“Even low-dose growth hormone, albeit effective in reducing cardiovascular risk factors and better tolerated than high-dose growth hormone, may increase specific glucose parameters,” Dr. Grinspoon said.

Growth hormone (GH) secretion is reduced in patients with HIV and abdominal fat accumulation. HIV patients who take cocktails of anti-AIDS drugs for their infections develop deposits of visceral fat in their stomach, neck and cheeks. The abnormal fat distribution caused by HIV therapy is associated with higher levels of cholesterol, triglycerides and blood sugar, which put them at risk of heart problems.

The researchers enrolled 55 patients with the AIDS virus who also had low levels of naturally occurring human growth hormone.

Half were given daily doses of about 0.33 milligrams of the hormone and the other received a placebo. The researchers found that abdominal fat decreased significantly in the first group compared with the placebo group, with a percentage change in those that were given the growth hormone of −8.5 percent and −1.6 percent in the placebo group. Lower dose guaranteed fewer side-effects and researchers suggested that hormone treatment has limited use for treating fat deposits around internal abdominal organs caused by HIV. But the experimental treatment is “not a panacea,” Dr. Grinspoon said.

The experimental treatment with human growth hormone could be useful for those with abdominal fat accumulations, but it should include a diabetes drug, to minimize side-effects.

The study appears in the Aug. 6 issue of the “Journal of the American Medical Association” and was among reports prepared for presentation Sunday at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City.

About 56,000 people became infected with HIV in the past year, according to the revised estimate of HIV’s toll in the United States. CDS’s estimates reveal that the HIV epidemic is worse than previously known. The number of new infections is 40 percent higher than earlier projections. The rate of HIV infection is progressively rising among black Americans and among “men who have sex with men,” the report said.

A key topic at the International Day Conference, beside HIV prevention, was preventing homophobia. Thousands of people marched to the streets holding banners with slogans that encouraged people to fight against gay people discrimination. They showed their support to gay people, who represent one fourth of the percentage of HIV/AIDS infections.

Kevin Robert Frost, chief executive officer of the American Foundation for AIDS Research said emphasized the need to develop programs that target those racial-social-sexual categories that are at risk. African Americans, Hispanics, and men who have sex with men are the most exposed male human beings to HIV infection.