Study wrapper · #483
The emerging landscape of performance-enhancing peptides modulating GH-IGF1 axis: bridging the gap between clinical evidence and patient self-administration.
Editor's note
This narrative review is directly on-topic for several tracked peptides. It maps the performance-enhancing GH-IGF-1 axis compounds sold as research chemicals, including the GHRH analogues sermorelin, tesamorelin, and CJC-1295 (with and without DAC), and the growth-hormone secretagogues GHRP-6, hexarelin, and ipamorelin. Its central contribution is an evidence-tiering: the authors contrast peer-reviewed pharmacology and clinical data against the online self-administration protocols people actually use, stratifying agents from regulatory-grade trial evidence down to a complete absence of human studies, and they are explicit that performance and body-recomposition benefits remain unproven. They also catalogue reported adverse effects, including prolactin and cortisol elevations, fluid retention, joint and muscle symptoms, and injection-site reactions. As a review it introduces no new data, but for readers weighing these secretagogues it is a sober, caveat-forward map of how thin the human evidence is and what risks have been reported.
Plain-language abstract
This review looks at peptides sold online as research compounds that aim to boost growth hormone and IGF-1, a growth-related hormone. It covers several of the peptides we track, including sermorelin, tesamorelin, CJC-1295, GHRP-6, hexarelin, and ipamorelin. The authors compare what published science actually shows against the dosing routines people use on their own, and they sort the compounds by how much human evidence exists, from well-studied to none at all. Their key point is that claimed benefits for performance or body composition are not established, and that reported side effects include raised prolactin and cortisol, fluid retention, joint and muscle aches, appetite and blood-sugar changes, and injection-site reactions. Because these products are unregulated, their actual contents and doses are often uncertain. This is a summary of existing knowledge offered to help readers understand the risks.