Growth hormone peptides: how they differ
Two classes with different mechanisms, and human evidence that ranges from one extreme to the other.
Five of the peptides in this catalogue are loosely grouped as «growth hormone peptides», as if they were variants of the same thing. They are not. They split into two classes with different mechanisms, and what really separates them is not only how they act but how much human evidence each has: there the range is enormous, from a compound that reached phase 3 to one with no published trial under its name.
This page describes published literature. It is not medical information and does not describe a therapeutic use, and what is sold here are reagents for in vitro research.
Two classes, not one
- GHRH analogues. They mimic the hormone that tells the pituitary to release growth hormone. These include CJC-1295 (with and without DAC), sermorelin and tesamorelin.
- Secretagogue of the GHRP family. Ipamorelin comes from another chemical line, that of the growth-hormone-releasing peptides, and its distinctive trait is being «selective»: in animals it releases growth hormone without moving ACTH or cortisol, which its predecessors did.
Being mentioned together does not make them equivalent: they are two different ways of reaching the same place.
The difference at a glance
| Class | Duration | Human data | Regulatory status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CJC-1295 with DAC | GHRH analogue | Days (binds to albumin) | Yes: rise in GH and IGF-I in healthy adults | None |
| CJC-1295 without DAC | GHRH analogue | Short | None under that name | None |
| Sermorelin | GHRH analogue (short fragment) | Short | Yes: was a medicine | Was approved in the US (GEREF), now discontinued |
| Tesamorelin | GHRH analogue | Short | Yes: phase 3 trials (HIV) | Approved in the US; the EU rejected it in 2012 |
| Ipamorelin | Secretagogue (GHRP family) | Short | Yes: 1 trial (117 people), did not beat placebo | None |
The range of evidence goes from one extreme to the other
Lined up, these five cover almost the whole spectrum of what «there are studies» can mean:
- Tesamorelin — the one that went furthest: real phase 3 trials and approval in the United States (though the European one was withdrawn in 2012). Sheet
- Sermorelin — became an approved medicine, now discontinued. Sheet
- CJC-1295 with DAC — studies in healthy adults that measured the sustained rise in GH and IGF-I. Sheet
- Ipamorelin — reached a randomised trial in people, for a digestive indication, and did not beat placebo. Sheet
- CJC-1295 without DAC — a PubMed search returns no trial published under that name. Sheet
A compound having «literature» does not say at which end of this range it sits. That distinction is precisely the one a product page does not make and this one does.
The name trap: «with DAC» is not «without DAC»
CJC-1295 circulates in two versions and they do not share data. The affinity complex (DAC) is what binds to albumin and gives it days of duration; removing it leaves the same backbone but a different molecule, with no long half-life and no studies of its own in people. Buying «CJC-1295» without the supplier saying which one it is means not knowing what you receive.
What to check when comparing suppliers of these compounds
In this family there are several GHRH analogues of similar sequence, so lot identity confirmation is what prevents confusing one with another —and, in CJC-1295, distinguishing the version with DAC from the one without—. On top of that, the usual: HPLC purity of the lot and a real cold chain.
EuroPeptiva sells material intended exclusively for laboratory research. No product is approved for human, veterinary or diagnostic use.