What Is Sermorelin?
Sermorelin is a synthetic peptide designed to stimulate the production of HGH (human growth hormone). It’s one of many such peptides (compounds) designed in recent years in an attempt to bring growth hormone secretion back to normal. But the goal here is not just to stimulate growth hormone production, but do so while eliminating(minimizing) harmful side effects.
By increasing (or normalizing) HGH production with sermorelin, scientist will be able to:
- reduce scarring after a heart attack
- increase patient’s bone density
- improve nutrition in some chronic illnesses
- Reduce seizure and other brain issues
In the following paragraphs, we’re going to see how far we got and if studies were able to verify some of these claims.
Sermorelin and Sleep
Here, we go into some murky water as research hasn’t suggested a direct link between sermorelin and general sleep or improvements in sleep quality. The connection is more of an indirect one.
We know that sleep cycles are regulated by a neurochemical called orexin, produced in our brain. And when we sleep, healing and remodeling takes place, strongly associated with growth hormone secretion. And, in theory, sermorelin can affect growth that takes place during our sleep via increased growth hormone secretion.
There was one more study conducted on animals which showed that administration of both sermorelin and other HGH agonists causes a spike in orexin secretion, but there is still ongoing research trying to help us figure out exactly what’s going on here.
Sermorelin and Epilepsy
This is a relatively new finding but it showed some promising results when dealing with epilepsy.
Namely, Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a signaling molecule produced within the nervous system, responsible for reducing the electrical activity within the spinal cord and overall electrical excitability within the nervous system.
And most anti-seizure medications work to increase these levels of GABA or by binding to these GABA receptors directly.
What research has shown is that HGH analogues are also effective in preventing seizures in animals as they also activate these GABA receptors.
Like we said, this research is still relatively fresh and needs a lot of backing and research from the scientific community. But it has a promising start!
Sermorelin as Growth Hormone Secretagogue
At the beginning of this article, we talked about the desire the researchers have – to be able to boost growth hormone secretion but do it in a safe, controlled and side effect-free manner. This is why sermorelin is gaining so much popularity since numerous animal studies showed its effectiveness in boosting mass, bone growth as well as reducing adipose tissue.
Another benefit to using sermorelin as GH secretagogue is that it does not “allow” the animal body to become accustomed to it (compared to some other similar-type medication). This potentially allows sermorelin-based drugs to be administered over the longer time period.
References:
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25797248/
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-18416-5
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1747749/
- https://www.healthline.com/health/sermorelin#who-shouldnt-get-sermorelin
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25678185/
