- U.S. status
- Legal to compound
- Component of an FDA-approved drug (GEREF, sermorelin acetate). FDA determined in 2013 that GEREF was not withdrawn from sale for reasons of safety or effectiveness.
- FDA source, read September 2026.
- Evidence cited here
- Labeled per goal: each counts only the cited studies that measured that goal, so one peptide can carry different labels.
- Sleep: Small studies2 controlled human studies cited here for sleep, none reporting its size in the abstract.
- Recovery: Early human dataOnly uncontrolled or dosing studies in people are cited here for recovery (2 studies), with no comparison group.
- Thorner 1996 (110 people) did not measure sleep or recovery, so it counts toward no label here. It is still listed with the studies below.
- Forms sold
- Injection · Oral · Sublingual · Nasal spray
1. What Sermorelin is
Sermorelin is GHRH(1-29), the first 29 amino acids of growth-hormone-releasing hormone, the signal the brain sends to the pituitary to release growth hormone. It was once sold as an approved drug, GEREF, for children with growth hormone deficiency.
GEREF is no longer marketed, but the FDA determined in 2013 that it was not withdrawn for safety or effectiveness reasons. That is why pharmacies may still compound sermorelin, and why telehealth sellers can prescribe it for adults, a use it was never approved for.
2. How it works
Sermorelin binds the GHRH receptor on the pituitary gland, which then releases growth hormone in pulses, and the liver answers growth hormone by making IGF-1, the hormone behind many of growth hormone's effects on tissue. Because the pituitary still controls the release, the body's own feedback can damp the response, which is the usual argument for it over injecting growth hormone directly.
That argument is a mechanism, not a measured outcome. Whether the extra growth hormone turns into more muscle, less fat or better sleep in adults is the part the human studies below were meant to answer, and mostly did not.
3. What the studies measured
In 11 healthy men aged 64 to 76, a nightly 2 mg injection for six weeks raised growth hormone release at night. IGF-1 did not change, and neither did weight, muscle, fat or blood sugar measures; two of six strength measures improved, with no placebo group to compare against.
In 10 older men, 1 mg twice daily for two weeks raised growth hormone and IGF-1 to levels seen in young men; the lower 0.5 mg dose did not. A study of 110 children with growth hormone deficiency, the use GEREF was approved for, found growth speed nearly doubled over six months, again without a control group.
The sleep evidence points both ways. An intravenous dose of GHRH, timed to a sleep stage, increased deep sleep in young men, while a placebo-controlled study found intravenous GHRH impaired sleep in young women. Neither used nightly injections under the skin, which is how sellers prescribe it.
4. What they did not measure
No placebo-controlled trial of sermorelin itself has measured body composition, strength, recovery or sleep in adults. The most-cited blinded study in older adults used a modified analog, not sermorelin, and even there sleep quality did not change.
None of these studies ran longer than about four months, and none measured long-term safety of raising growth hormone in healthy adults.
The studies behind this page
The evidence label above is computed from these papers: their design and how many people they enrolled.
- Uncontrolled study
11 people
Counts toward: Recovery
Nightly growth hormone release rose; IGF-1, weight and body composition did not change. Two of six strength measures improved.
Healthy men aged 64 to 76; 2 mg GHRH(1-29) under the skin nightly for 6 weeks, no placebo arm.
Vittone J, Blackman MR, Busby-Whitehead J, Tsiao C, Stewart KJ, Tobin J, et al. (1997). Effects of single nightly injections of growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH 1-29) in healthy elderly men. Metabolism. PMID 9005976
- Uncontrolled study
19 people
Counts toward: Recovery
Growth hormone and IGF-1 rose significantly at 1 mg twice daily only; no body-composition outcome was measured.
10 healthy older men given 0.5 mg and 1 mg twice daily for 14 days each, with 9 young men as a reference group.
Corpas E, Harman SM, Piñeyro MA, Roberson R, Blackman MR (1992). Growth hormone (GH)-releasing hormone-(1-29) twice daily reverses the decreased GH and insulin-like growth factor-I levels in old men. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. PMID 1379256
- Uncontrolled study
110 people
Counts toward no label
Height velocity rose from 4.1 to 8.0 cm a year at 6 months; no control group.
Prepubertal children with growth hormone deficiency; 30 µg/kg once daily at bedtime for up to a year.
Thorner M, Rochiccioli P, Colle M, Lanes R, Grunt J, Galazka A, Landy H, Eengrand P, Shah S (1996). Once daily subcutaneous growth hormone-releasing hormone therapy accelerates growth in growth hormone-deficient children during the first year of therapy. Geref International Study Group. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. PMID 8772599
- Controlled study
Size not given in the abstract
Counts toward: Sleep
Given in early sleep, GHRH did not change deep sleep; given in the third REM period, deep sleep rose almost tenfold.
Healthy young men given an intravenous GHRH bolus at set sleep stages; the GHRH form is not stated in the abstract.
Kerkhofs M, Van Cauter E, Van Onderbergen A, Caufriez A, Thorner MO, Copinschi G (1993). Sleep-promoting effects of growth hormone-releasing hormone in normal men. Am J Physiol. PMID 8476038
- Controlled study
Size not given in the abstract
Counts toward: Sleep
Compared with placebo, REM sleep or deep sleep decreased, depending on the dose.
Healthy young women given pulsed intravenous GHRH or placebo on separate nights.
Mathias S, Held K, Ising M, Weikel JC, Yassouridis A, Steiger A (2007). Systemic growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) impairs sleep in healthy young women. Psychoneuroendocrinology. PMID 17850984
Read further
Sermorelin
Frequently asked questions
- Is sermorelin FDA-approved?
- Not today. It was approved as GEREF for children with growth hormone deficiency and later left the market. The FDA found that was not for safety or effectiveness reasons, which is what lets pharmacies compound it.
- Does sermorelin improve sleep?
- It has not been tested for that. The two sleep studies cited here gave GHRH into a vein: one found more deep sleep in young men at one timing, and the other found worse sleep in young women.