On the record / references

The sermorelin literature, cited in full.

Every figure on this site traces to one of these studies. Author-year, journal, DOI, and PubMed link for each.

How the citations work

Each numbered reference below corresponds to the inline markers used across the digest. The set is deliberately compact — the core human GH-axis studies, the pharmacokinetics, the cognition trial of the stabilized analog, the men's-health secretagogue work, and the editorials that frame the adult anti-aging caution — rather than an exhaustive bibliography. Where a finding belongs to the analog tesamorelin rather than to sermorelin, the citation and the surrounding text say so.

  1. Thorner M, Rochiccioli P, Colle M, Lanes R, Grunt J, Galazka A, Landy H, Eengrand P, Shah S. Once daily subcutaneous growth hormone-releasing hormone therapy accelerates growth in growth hormone-deficient children during the first year of therapy. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1996;81(3):1189-96.
  2. Corpas E, Harman SM, Pineyro MA, Roberson R, Blackman MR. 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. 1992;75(2):530-535.
  3. Wilton P, Chardet Y, Danielson K, Widlund L, Gunnarsson R. Pharmacokinetics of growth hormone-releasing hormone(1-29)-NH2 and stimulation of growth hormone secretion in healthy subjects after intravenous or intranasal administration. Acta Paediatr Suppl. 1993;388:10-15.
  4. Walker RF. Sermorelin: a better approach to management of adult-onset growth hormone insufficiency? Clin Interv Aging. 2006;1(4):307-308.
  5. Blackman MR. Use of growth hormone secretagogues to prevent or treat the effects of aging: not yet ready for prime time. Ann Intern Med. 2008;149(9):677-9.
  6. Baker LD, Barsness SM, Borson S, Merriam GR, Friedman SD, Craft S, Vitiello MV. Effects of growth hormone-releasing hormone on cognitive function in adults with mild cognitive impairment and healthy older adults: results of a controlled trial. Arch Neurol. 2012;69(11):1420-1429. (NCT00257712)
  7. Sigalos JT, Pastuszak AW, Allison A, et al. Growth Hormone Secretagogue Treatment in Hypogonadal Men Raises Serum Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Levels. Am J Mens Health. 2017;11(6):1752-1757.
  8. Sigalos JT, Pastuszak AW. Beyond the androgen receptor: the role of growth hormone secretagogues in the modern management of body composition in hypogonadal males. Transl Androl Urol. 2020;9(Suppl 2):S149-S159.
  9. Veldhuis JD, Bowers CY. Factors other than sex steroids modulate GHRH and GHRP-2 efficacies in men: evaluation using a GnRH agonist/testosterone clamp. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2009;94:2544-50.
  10. Veldhuis JD, et al. Testosterone supplementation in healthy older men drives GH and IGF-I secretion without potentiating peptidyl secretagogue efficacy. Eur J Endocrinol. 2005;153:577-86.
  11. Veldhuis JD, et al. Testosterone blunts feedback inhibition of growth hormone secretion by experimentally elevated insulin-like growth factor-I concentrations. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005;90:1613-7.
  12. Granata R, Leone S, Zhang X, Gesmundo I, Steenblock C, Cai R, Sha W, Ghigo E, Hare JM, Bornstein SR, Schally AV. Growth hormone-releasing hormone and its analogues in health and disease. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2025.
  13. Schier T, Guldner J, Colla M, et al. Changes in sleep-endocrine activity after growth hormone-releasing hormone depend on time of administration. J Neuroendocrinol. 1997;9(3):201-205.
  14. Vijayakumar A, et al. Role of pulsatile growth hormone (GH) secretion in the regulation of lipolysis in fasting humans. Clin Diabetes Endocrinol. 2022;8(1):1.