# Sermorelin: The GHRH(1-29) Research Record, Read Straight > Sermorelin is the 29-amino-acid GHRH fragment that stimulates the body's own pulsatile growth hormone. A plain-English digest of the safety, tolerability, and pharmacology literature, every claim cited. A scroll-read editorial digest of the published literature on the growth-hormone-releasing hormone analog — the mechanism, the human pharmacology, and the honest limits of the adult data, every claim pinned to its source. ## The short version **Sermorelin** is a synthetic copy of the first 29 amino acids of GHRH — the brain's own "make growth hormone" signal. It does not supply growth hormone; it tells the pituitary gland to release its own, in the natural bursts (called pulsatile release) the body uses. It was once an FDA-approved children's medicine for growth failure, was pulled from the U.S. market in 2008 for business reasons, and is now made by compounding pharmacies. In studies it raised growth hormone and IGF-1 (a growth signal the liver makes when GH rises), and was generally well tolerated over weeks to months. This page digests that research; it gives no dosing advice. ## What is sermorelin? Sermorelin (sermorelin acetate) is a synthetic 29-amino-acid peptide that copies the amino-terminal 1-29 fragment of human growth-hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) — the shortest piece of the 44-residue hormone that keeps full activity at the GHRH receptor [3]. Chemically it is the amidated GRF(1-29)NH2 fragment, molecular weight 3357.9 Da, CAS 86168-78-7. Its job is upstream. GHRH is the hypothalamic signal that tells the anterior pituitary to make and release growth hormone (GH); sermorelin stands in for that signal. Because it acts on the pituitary rather than supplying GH directly, the body's own brakes — somatostatin and IGF-1 feedback — stay intact, and GH continues to come out in pulses rather than as a flat, continuous level [4]. A frequent point of confusion worth settling early: sermorelin's regulatory history. It **was** an FDA-approved prescription drug, marketed for evaluating and treating growth hormone deficiency and short stature in children. It was withdrawn from the U.S. market in 2008 for commercial reasons — not for any safety or efficacy failure — and is today prepared by compounding pharmacies. It is neither "currently FDA-approved" nor "never approved"; it is a formerly approved GHRH analog that is now compounded. ## Sermorelin peptide: GHRH(1-29) at a glance The sermorelin peptide is best understood as one precise fragment doing one precise job. GHRH in the body is 44 amino acids long, but its biological activity lives in the front of the molecule. The first 29 residues — GHRH(1-29) — retain full potency at the receptor [3], which is why sermorelin is exactly that length and no longer. In humans the pharmacology is well characterized for the acute response. Intravenous GHRH(1-29)NH2 triggered measurable GH release at doses as low as 0.25 mcg/kg, with maximal release at 1-2 mcg/kg; despite rapid clearance from plasma, GH stayed elevated for roughly three hours after a single dose [3]. The native fragment's plasma half-life is short — on the order of 10-12 minutes [3] — and that brevity is the whole reason longer-acting analogs were later engineered (covered on the [sermorelin vs CJC-1295](/vs-cjc-1295) page). The record spans decades. Sermorelin began as a 1980s diagnostic GHRH-stimulation agent, became an approved pediatric drug in the 1990s, left the U.S. market in 2008, and re-entered practice in the 2020s as a compounded preparation. ## What the human studies measured In its approved pediatric use, the effect was growth. In a multicenter trial of prepubertal growth-hormone-deficient children, once-daily subcutaneous GHRH(1-29) accelerated first-year height velocity from about 4.1 cm/year to roughly 7-8 cm/year — without excessive IGF-1 generation [1]. That is the clearest efficacy signal in the file. In aging research the question shifted to the GH/IGF-1 axis itself. In healthy older men (mean age 68), subcutaneous GHRH(1-29) at 0.5 mg and 1 mg twice daily for 14 days produced dose-related increases in 24-hour GH and IGF-1; after the high-dose course, their GH and IGF-1 parameters no longer differed from those of young men, with no change in fasting glucose [2]. The tolerability picture across these adult studies has been mild. In age-advanced men and women self-injecting a stabilized GHRH(1-29) analog at 10 mcg/kg nightly for 16 weeks, the somatotropic axis activated — rising IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 — and the only adverse effect was a transient hyperlipidemia that resolved by the end of the study; blood pressure, body weight, fasting insulin, and glucose were unchanged [7]. The full reported adverse-effect profile is set out, with its caveats, on the [sermorelin side effects](/side-effects) page. ## What this site is — and is not This is an editorial digest of published research on sermorelin, written for a general reader who wants the actual findings rather than the marketing. Every quantitative claim on the site is tied to a numbered citation you can check on the [sermorelin references and citations](/references) page. The pages here concern research-grade sermorelin as it appears in the scientific literature. The site describes what was administered to which population, at which dose, by which route, and what was measured — never what anyone should take. It is not a clinic, sells nothing, and gives no medical advice. One honest caveat sits over the whole topic: anti-aging and body-composition marketing for sermorelin runs well ahead of the evidence. An Annals of Internal Medicine editorial judged the use of growth-hormone secretagogues to prevent or treat aging "not yet ready for prime time" [5]. We report the axis findings factually and flag where the long-term adult data simply stop. Start with the [sermorelin side effects](/side-effects) record, or read the full [sermorelin mechanism of action](/research). --- A scroll-read digest of the sermorelin literature, marginal notes and all — the record set down where the data stop, not a clinic, a prescription, or a counter.