Sermorelin

Sermorelin (GRF 1-29, formerly sold as Geref) is a synthetic peptide made of the first 29 amino acids of human growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), the shortest fragment with the full activity of the natural hormone. It was a licensed medicine in the US: the FDA approved it in 1990 as a test of the pituitary's ability to release growth hormone (GH), and in 1997 to treat children with idiopathic growth hormone deficiency and growth failure. The manufacturer discontinued it in 2008, and in 2013 the FDA determined that it had not been withdrawn for reasons of safety or because it did not work. These research materials are not the licensed product. In an open-label study of 110 children with growth hormone deficiency, growth rate rose over a year of treatment (Thorner et al., JCEM 1996), although a review noted smaller growth responses than with growth hormone itself. In adults the evidence is thin: an uncontrolled six-week study in 11 healthy men aged 64 to 76 found more overnight GH release but no change in IGF-1 or in muscle and fat measured by body scan (Vittone et al., Metabolism 1997). There are no large controlled trials in adults and no long-term adult safety data. Supplied for laboratory research use only.