Description
Sermorelin is a synthetic version of the first 29 amino acids of GHRH — the brain signal that prompts the pituitary gland to release growth hormone. It is the shortest fragment of GHRH that still fully activates the GHRH receptor, making it a well-characterised research tool for studying physiological GH stimulation. Unlike injecting GH directly, sermorelin works by triggering the body’s own GH production, which keeps natural feedback systems intact.
What the research has found
• Studies established that sermorelin preserves the hypothalamus’s ability to regulate GH levels through natural feedback — meaning growth hormone levels rise and fall in the body’s normal pattern rather than remaining continuously elevated as they would with direct GH administration (Vittone et al., 1997)
• In human subjects, intravenous sermorelin produced a characteristic GH pulse peaking at 20–30 minutes post-administration, providing the pharmacodynamic basis for its use as a diagnostic challenge test for GH deficiency assessment (Vittone et al., 1997)
• Research in older male subjects showed sermorelin administration increased both serum GH and IGF-1 levels, with associated improvements in body composition measurements including lean mass gains and fat mass reduction, supporting its use in studies of age-related GH axis decline (Vittone et al., 1997)
• Pharmacokinetic research identified the rapid breakdown of sermorelin by the enzyme DPP-IV as its main limitation (half-life ~10–20 minutes), directly motivating the development of more stable GHRH analogues including tesamorelin and CJC-1295 with DAC (Laron & Frenkel, 2004)
For research use only. Not intended for use in humans or animals.
References
Laron, Z., & Frenkel, J. (2004). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15139958/
Vittone, J., et al. (1997). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9453680/
