Peptide glossary
GHRH (growth hormone-releasing hormone)
Also: GRF · GHRH analogue · GHRH(1-29)
The hypothalamic hormone that tells the pituitary to release growth hormone; sermorelin, tesamorelin and CJC-1295 are its analogues.
Growth hormone-releasing hormone is a 44-amino-acid peptide made in the hypothalamus. It travels a short distance to the pituitary and binds the GHRH receptor, prompting a pulse of growth hormone. The first 29 residues carry all of the activity, which is why most synthetic analogues are built on the GHRH(1-29) fragment. Native GHRH has a plasma half-life of a few minutes.
The analogues on this site differ mainly in how they extend that half-life. Tesamorelin adds a hexenoyl group to the full 44-residue sequence and is the only GHRH analogue approved as a medicine, in Canada and the United States, for HIV-associated abdominal fat. CJC-1295 substitutes four residues of GHRH(1-29) for enzyme resistance; the "DAC" version adds a drug affinity complex that binds albumin and stretches the half-life to about a week.
GHRH analogues are one of the two families of growth hormone secretagogues. The other, the ghrelin receptor agonists, act through a separate receptor, and the literature frequently studies one of each together.
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Research & educational use only. Definitions are informational and not medical advice. Products are supplied for laboratory research and are not for human use.