Sermorelin

The Sleep Enhancer

Improve Sleep Quality: Enhance Rest and Recovery with Sermorelin

Sermorelin is a synthetic version of a naturally occurring substance known as growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH). It’s a peptide, which means it’s made up of a short chain of amino acids. Specifically, Sermorelin consists of the first 29 amino acids of the naturally occurring GHRH. This segment is considered the shortest fully functional fragment of GHRH, and it’s used because it retains the full biological activity of the hormone.

The primary role of Sermorelin in medical and scientific settings is to stimulate the pituitary gland in the brain. This stimulation leads the pituitary gland to produce and release growth hormone, which is crucial for growth, metabolism, muscle development, and energy regulation.

Sermorelin is used in various clinical scenarios, including diagnosing and treating growth hormone deficiency in children and adults. It offers a way to assess the function of the pituitary gland and can help in managing conditions related to low levels of growth hormone.

Potential Benefits Under Research

• Improved sleep patterns: Studies suggest that Sermorelin can enhance the quality and depth of sleep. It may increase the duration of REM sleep, which is the deep, restorative stage of sleep, potentially leading to better overall sleep quality and recovery.
• Cardiovascular health: There is interest in Sermorelin’s ability to improve heart function. Growth hormone, which Sermorelin helps increase, is thought to have beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system, including improving cardiac function and possibly lowering the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
• Epilepsy management: Preliminary research indicates that growth hormone-releasing hormones like Sermorelin could have neuroprotective properties. These properties might be beneficial in managing conditions such as epilepsy, potentially reducing the frequency and severity of seizures.
• Enhanced growth hormone production: By stimulating the pituitary gland, Sermorelin promotes the natural production of growth hormone, crucial for various physiological processes including growth, metabolism, and tissue repair.
• Increased muscle mass and strength: Sermorelin can contribute to muscle growth and increased strength, especially beneficial in aging populations and those with muscle-wasting conditions.
• Improved energy levels and mood: The stimulation of growth hormone production can also enhance energy levels and overall mood, contributing to an improved sense of well-being.
• Anti-aging effects: Some research suggests potential anti-aging benefits of Sermorelin, such as improved skin elasticity and reduced signs of aging, due to its role in stimulating growth hormone production.

Dosing Protocol for Research Purposes

• 0.2 to 0.3 mg per day, administered as a subcutaneous injection.

Overview

Sermorelin is one of a handful of growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH) analogues that have been developed in recent years in an effort to preserve some of the positive effects of natural GHRH while avoiding undesirable effects. Sermorelin (Geref) is currently used clinically to assess growth hormone secretion.

Structure

Sequence: Tyr-DL-Ala-DL-Asp-DL-Ala-DL-xille-DL­Phe-DL-xiThr-DL-Asn-DL-Ser-DL-Tyr-DL-Arg-DL­Lys-DL-Val-DL-Leu-Gly-DL-Gln-DL-Leu-DL-Ser-DL­Ala-DL-Arg-DL-Lys-DL-Leu-D L-Leu-DL-Gln-D L-Asp­DL-xi I le-DL-Met-DL-Ser-D L-Arg
Molecular Formula: C149H24sN44042S
Molecular Weight: 3357 .933 g/mol
PubChem CID: 16129620

Sermorelin Peptide Research 

1. Sermorelin and Heart Health

Heart attack, while acutely life-threatening, can also lead to long-term disability secondary to heart failure, cardiac conduction abnormalities (arrhythmias), reduced exercise capacity, pain, and more. A number of these problems result from cardiac remodeling that follows damage to myocytes (heart muscle cells). Often, cardiac remodeling leads not only to scarring in the area of damage following a heart attack, but in surrounding, undamaged areas as well. This remodeling causes a number of long-term problems and research has shown that preventing it from happening can significantly improve outcomes both immediately after a heart attack and years down the line.

In 2016, a study in pigs revealed that sermorelin administration is effective in reducing the remodeling that follows a heart attack. The research showed that sermorelin: 

• reduces cell death in cardiomyocytes,
  • increases the production of extracellular matrix components needed for adequate healing,
  • increases the growth of blood vessels to damaged tissue, and
  • reduces the production of substances that cause damaging inflammation.

Clinically, sermorelin’s effects are seen in improved diastolic function, reduced scar size, and increased capillary growth. There is current research exploring the benefits of sermorelin in other forms of heart disease, such as heart failure and even valve disorders. 

GHRH treatment reduces scar mass. A. Shows a graph of percent change in scar mass over time on top and the relationship between the percent change in scar mass as a percentage of left ventricular mass. B. Shows images of the heart before and after 4 weeks of sermorlin treatment or placebo. 

2. Sermorelin and Epilepsy

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a central nervous system signaling molecule known to reduce electrical activity in the spinal cord and reduce overall electrical excitability in the central nervous system. A number of anti-seizure medications work either by increasing levels of GABA in the central nervous system or by binding to GABA receptors and mimicking the effects of GABA. In a recent study of mice with epilepsy, scientists administered GHRH analogues, like sermorelin, to test the effect of these peptides on seizure activity. It turns out that GHRH analogues are effective in suppressing seizures by activating GABA receptors . This is a very new finding and an active area of research as medications for treating seizure conditions, while effective, have a range of detrimental side effects that reduce their clinical use. 

3. Sermorelin and Sleep

There is good evidence that sleep cycles are regulated by orexin, a potent neurochemical produced by certain neurons in the brain. It is also well understood that growth and healing, which are strongly associated with growth hormone secretion, primarily take place during sleep. Research in rainbow trout suggests that this is no coincidence, with an intact GHRH axis being a necessary component for proper orexin secretion and function. In addition, the research reveals that exogenous administration of sermorelin and other GHRH agonists can boost orexin secretion. There is ongoing research into the benefits of using sermorelin in sleep disorders. 

4. Sermorelin Preferred to Growth Hormone 

Sermorelin is a growth hormone-releasing hormone derivative and, as such, produces all of the same effects that GH produces, including increasing muscle mass, boosting long bone growth, and reducing adipose tissue. Even though the effects are the same, the side effects are not. In fact, sermorelin is the preferred way to increase GH levels in humans, even over the exogenous administration of growth hormone itself. The primary reason for this preference is that sermorelin is subject to physiological feedback mechanisms that help to prevent common problems encountered with GH administration. These problems include overdose, improper dosing, and unintended side effects like edema, joint pain, and dysregulation of normal physiology. 

A second reason to prefer sermorelin is that research shows it is not subject to tachyphylaxis, the process by which the body becomes accustomed to a medication and requires higher and higher doses to achieve desired effects. In some cases, tachyphylaxis is so severe that a drug holiday (complete cessation of use of a medication) is required to regain the effects of a medication. Long­term use of sermorelin in certain clinical settings as well as animal studies of the peptide indicate that the body has a unique response to the peptide. Rather than down-regulate the production of GHRH receptors with administration of sermorelin, the body instead increases their production. This ensures that sermorelin’s effects are unchanged, that tachyphylaxis does not develop to a substantial degree, and that dose escalation is generally not required. 

Sermorelin exhibits moderate side effects, low oral and excellent subcutaneous bioavailability in mice. Per kg dosage in mice does not scale to humans. 

Article Author

The above literature was researched, edited and organized by Dr. E. Logan, M.D. Dr. E. Logan holds a doctorate degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and a B.S. in molecular biology.

Scientific Journal Author 

Richard F. Walker, Ph.D, R.Ph, lead author of A better approach to management of adult-onset growth hormone insufficiency?”, received a BS in pharmacy from Rutgers University, a MS in Biochemistry from New Mexico State University and a PhD in a physiology from Rutgers University. He holds postdoctoral fellowships in neuroendocrinology and neuropharmacology at Duke University College of Medicine (Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development) and the University of California, Berkeley, respectively. 

Richard F. Walker, Ph.D, R.Ph is being referenced as one of the leading scientists involved in the research and development of Sermorelin. In no way is this doctor/scientist endorsing or advocating the purchase, sale, or use of this product for any reason. There is no affiliation or relationship, implied or otherwise, between Guide to Peptide and this doctor. The purpose of citing the doctor is to acknowledge, recognize, and credit the exhaustive research and development efforts conducted by the scientists studying this peptide. Richard F. Walker, Ph.D, R.Ph is listed in under the referenced citations. 

Referenced Citations 

1. L. L. Bagno et al., “Growth Hormone­- Releasing Hormone Agonists Reduce Myocardial Infarct Scar in Swine With Subacute lschemic Cardiomyopathy,” J. Am. Heart Assoc. Cardiovasc. Cerebrovasc. Dis., vol. 4, no. 4, Mar. 2015. 
2. R. M. Kanashiro-Takeuchi et al., “New therapeutic approach to heart failure due to myocardial infarction based on targeting growth hormone-releasing hormone receptor,” Oncotarget, vol. 6, no. 12, pp. 9728-9739, Mar. 2015. 
3. S. Tang et al., “Interactions between GHRH and GABAARs in the brains of patients with epilepsy and in animal models of epilepsy,” Sci. Rep., vol. 7, Dec. 2017. 
4. B. S. Shepherd et al., “Endocrine and orexigenic actions of growth hormone secretagogues in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss),” Comp. Biochem. Physiol. A. Mol. lntegr. Physiol., vol. 146, no. 3, pp. 390-399, Mar. 2007. 
5. R. F. Walker, “Sermorelin: A better approach to management of adult-onset growth hormone insufficiency?,” Clin. lnterv. Aging, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 307-308, Dec. 2006. 
6. S. T. Wahid, P. Marbach, B. Stolz, M. Miller, R. A. James, and S. G. Ball, “Partial tachyphylaxis to somatostatin (SST) analogues in a patient with acromegaly: the role of SST receptor desensitisation and circulating antibodies to SST analogues,” Eur. J. Endocrinol., vol. 146, no. 3, pp. 295-302, Mar. 2002.