Sermorelin
Sermorelin acetate · Geref · GRF 1-29 · GHRH (1-29)
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Sermorelin, also called growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) 1-29, is a 29-amino-acid fragment of GHRH that prompts the pituitary to release the body's own growth hormone (GH).5 The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lists Geref sermorelin acetate injection as a discontinued approved drug5, and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) prohibits GHRH analogues including sermorelin at all times5. It has been used to raise GH output in GH-deficient children, to probe the GH axis in diagnostic testing, and in older adults with age-related decline in the GH axis. It is also taken for sleep, where one trial in age-advanced adults found sleep quality unaffected.
In GH-deficient children, once-daily subcutaneous GHRH 1-29 for a year increased height velocity in an open-label study1. In older adults, nightly injections raised GH secretion, with modest strength gains in one small trial and lean mass gains in men only in another. A 2013 open-label diagnostic study found oral macimorelin comparable to the arginine plus GHRH test for adult GH deficiency, after the GHRH analog used in that test became unavailable in the United States. Sermorelin is supplied as an injectable peptide; see Form comparison.
In a 2022 warning letter, the FDA described adulterated drug products at a compounding pharmacy that prepared a sermorelin and ipamorelin injectable6.
Last updated October 17, 2026. Read how we make monographs.
In the full monograph
33 sources, 16 studies
- When to useThe situations practitioners use it for, each with the reason and the study behind it.
- SafetyWho should avoid it, who needs extra care, and the side effects reported in studies.
- Protocol notesThe doses used in studies, how and when they were taken, and how the forms on the market compare.
- How it worksWhat it is and how it works in the body, in plain terms.
- Published studiesThe studies behind each use, popular claims checked against them, and trials still under way.
- Word of mouthWhat patients and practitioners report online, kept separate from the clinical evidence.
- Clinical perspectiveA closing read of where the evidence is solid, where it is thin, and what has not been studied.
Sources
- 1Once daily subcutaneous growth hormone-releasing hormone therapy accelerates growth in growth hormone-deficient children during the first year of therapy. Geref International Study Group.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govThorner, Rochiccioli, Colle et al. · The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 1996 · Pubmed
- 2Macimorelin (AEZS-130)-stimulated growth hormone (GH) test: validation of a novel oral stimulation test for the diagnosis of adult GH deficiency.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govGarcia, Swerdloff, Wang et al. · The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2013 · Pubmed
- 3Effects of single nightly injections of growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH 1-29) in healthy elderly men.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govVittone, Blackman, Busby-Whitehead et al. · Metabolism: clinical and experimental · 1997 · Pubmed
- 4Endocrine and metabolic effects of long-term administration of [Nle27]growth hormone-releasing hormone-(1-29)-NH2 in age-advanced men and women.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govKhorram, Laughlin, Yen · The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 1997 · Pubmed
- 5US statusfda.govWhat the FDA (its lists of substances nominated for pharmacy compounding, and Drugs@FDA) and the World Anti-Doping Agency's Prohibited List say about this ingredient, in their own words. A legal status, not evidence of benefit or harm
- 6FDA actionsfda.govFDA warning letters, import alerts and Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee documents that name this ingredient, in the FDA's words. Findings about products sold and a regulator's review, not evidence of harm from the ingredient itself