Evidence Trace, complete trial record
In plain terms
In plain terms: Sermorelin (GHRH 1-29) has not yet been tested in a human trial designed to measure the outcome relevant here. The available human research does not yet answer the question.
Sermorelin (GHRH 1-29)
D
Not shown: no human trial shows benefit
Route 1 — no qualifying human trial has been conducted
The endpoint this grade is based on: Surrogate biomarker endpoint, One placebo-controlled trial of GHRH(1-29), in healthy older adults (PMID 16399214), is under review. Growth hormone and IGF-1 rose in two tiny studies from one research group, one randomizing only the order of two doses and the other uncontrolled; a hormone level shows the drug acted, not that health changed. Body composition, frailty and mortality have no randomized trial of sermorelin itself. All uses D, Route 1.
The evidence as the record states it
Corpas et al. (Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 1992; PMID 1379256) - 14-day randomized dose-comparison in 10 older men: growth hormone and IGF-1 rose at the high dose only; body composition was not measured. Vittone et al. (Metabolism, 1997; PMID 9005976) - 6-week open-label uncontrolled study in 11 men aged 64 to 76: nocturnal growth hormone release rose, while IGF-1, IGFBP-3, growth-hormone-binding protein, DEXA fat and muscle, weight, BMI, glucose, insulin, lipids and muscle histology did not change. Kirk et al. (Clinical Endocrinology, 1994; PMID 7955460) - uncontrolled study in 18 children with idiopathic short stature: growth velocity rose from 4.8 to 7.2 cm per year and returned toward baseline after treatment stopped. Mendias and Awan (Sports Medicine, 2026; PMID 41966639) - narrative review placing sermorelin among compounded peptides for which rigorous human safety data are scarce. Grade D on Route 1 for every use: no trial has compared sermorelin with placebo, on the hormone response or on any longevity, body-composition or cognitive outcome. The strongest trials in this drug class used different molecules and are shown to the reader without carrying any grade: Khorram et al. (JCEM, 1997; PMID 9141536) used [Nle27]GHRH(1-29)NH2, Baker et al. (Archives of Neurology, 2012; PMID 22869065) used tesamorelin, with Friedman et al. (JAMA Neurology, 2013; PMID 23689947) a brain GABA spectroscopy substudy of the same trial rather than a second cognition trial, and Veldhuis et al. (JCEM, 2004; PMID 15579798) used GHRH(1-44) at 1 or 4 mg twice daily for 3 months in 22 men, raising GH, IGF-1 and fat-free mass at the higher dose; and Sigalos et al. (American Journal of Men's Health, 2017; PMID 28830317) gave sermorelin combined with GHRP-2 and GHRP-6.
PMID 1379256 PMID 9005976 PMID 7955460 PMID 41966639 PMID 15579798
Evidence by specific use
Growth hormone and IGF-1 response in older adults
Grade D
Untested against placebo. Corpas et al. (J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 1992; PMID 1379256): 10 old men took 0.5 mg and 1 mg twice daily for 14 days each in random order, with no placebo arm; growth hormone and IGF-1 rose, more at the higher dose. Vittone et al. (Metabolism, 1997; PMID 9005976): 11 men aged 64 to 76, 6 weeks, uncontrolled; nocturnal growth hormone rose, IGF-1 did not. This site defines a randomized controlled trial as people randomly assigned to treatment or placebo, and neither study had a placebo or untreated arm, so neither of them is a randomized trial against placebo. Under review since October 2026: Vitiello et al. (Neurobiol Aging, 2006), the trial named in the cognition row, is a six-month placebo-controlled trial of GHRH(1-29) in healthy older adults and may report growth hormone and IGF-1 results; the row stays D until it is read in full. A rise in growth hormone would in any case show that the drug acted, not that health changed.
PMID 1379256 PMID 9005976
Body composition and lean mass in older adults
Grade D
The only study of sermorelin itself that measured body composition, PMID 9005976, was open-label and uncontrolled and found no change in DEXA fat or muscle, weight or BMI over 6 weeks. No randomized trial of sermorelin has measured body composition (PubMed, October 2026). The trials in this class that found lean-mass gains used different molecules: the [Nle27] analog (Khorram et al., 1997; PMID 9141536) and GHRH(1-44) at 4 mg twice daily for 3 months (Veldhuis et al., J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 2004; PMID 15579798), shown as context without grade weight. D, Route 1: untested in a randomized trial.
PMID 9005976 PMID 15579798 PMID 9141536
Cognition in older adults
Grade D
One placebo-controlled trial of GHRH(1-29) reports cognitive outcomes: Vitiello et al. (Neurobiol Aging, 2006; PMID 16399214), 89 healthy older adults over 6 months, better scores on several of the tests measured. It was identified by an outside audit, is being read in full, and the row is under review until then. The positive cognition trial in this drug class (Baker et al., Arch Neurol, 2012; PMID 22869065) used tesamorelin, a different molecule, and Friedman et al. (JAMA Neurol, 2013; PMID 23689947) is a brain spectroscopy substudy of that same trial, not a second trial; both are shown in this entry's caveat and carry no part of any grade here.
Mortality, frailty and longevity
Grade D
No human randomized trial of sermorelin or GHRH(1-29) reports a mortality, frailty or longevity endpoint. Every human study of this molecule measured hormone levels, growth velocity or short-term body composition.
Animal lifespan data and mechanistic plausibility are excluded from EBL grades by rule. They inform the scientific rationale but do not carry the letter.
Why Grade D Route 1 and not Grade C
Grade D Route 1 applies when no qualifying human randomized trial has tested this compound or intervention against the relevant endpoint. Absence confirmed: sermorelin[tiab] AND randomized controlled trial[pt] (PubMed, October 2026)
The first qualifying human RCT with a meaningful endpoint would move this to Grade C or higher, depending on what it shows.
What this grade covers and what it does not
Grade D on Route 1: untested. This site counts a randomized controlled trial as people randomly assigned to treatment or placebo. The only randomized study of sermorelin (Corpas 1992, PMID 1379256) randomized the order of two active doses in 10 older men with no placebo arm, and the other studies of the molecule were uncontrolled (Vittone 1997, PMID 9005976), so neither is a randomized trial against placebo. Under review since October 2026: a six-month placebo-controlled trial of GHRH(1-29) in healthy older adults (Vitiello et al., Neurobiol Aging, 2006; PMID 16399214) reports cognitive outcomes, and the growth hormone and cognition rows stay D until it is read in full. WHAT THIS GRADE DOES NOT COVER: any benefit a reader would feel; compounded preparations, whose potency is not reviewed before dispensing; and the marketing claims about lean mass and cognition, which rest on other molecules.
What would move this grade
The first qualifying randomized controlled trial in humans, testing this intervention against a meaningful aging-relevant endpoint, would initiate grading. Depending on the result, it could land at any grade from A to D.
How to track whether this is working
IGF-1 is a biomarker, not a health outcome. No validated human outcome to track.