FOR RESEARCH USE ONLY. NOT FOR HUMAN OR VETERINARY USE. NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION.
Compounds described on this site are supplied solely for laboratory research. They are not offered for human or veterinary use or for clinical use, and they are not intended to diagnose, mitigate, cure or prevent any disease.
CJC-1295 is a synthetic analogue of growth-hormone-releasing hormone carrying a drug affinity complex (DAC), the modification that lets it persist in circulation far longer than the native hormone. The page reviews three publications: a laboratory and animal characterisation, a report of two randomised, placebo-controlled studies in healthy adults, and an overnight study of growth hormone pulses in healthy men. All of the human work measured hormone concentrations and pharmacokinetics, so no recorded endpoint describes what happened to the participants.
CJC-1295 is a synthetic analogue of growth-hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), modified so that it persists in circulation far longer than GHRH itself, which is cleared within minutes.
The human record collected here is two publications from the same research programme: two randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled ascending-amount studies in healthy adults aged 21 to 61, running 28 and 49 days, and a smaller study that sampled growth hormone every 20 minutes overnight in healthy men before and a week after a single amount, to see whether the rise in growth hormone kept its pulsatile pattern. What those studies measured were plasma concentrations — of growth hormone, of IGF-I — and standard pharmacokinetic parameters for the compound itself.
That is worth being exact about, because it is the entire content of this page. Concentrations of two hormones rose, and stayed raised for days. No endpoint describing what happened to the people in whom they rose was recorded, so nothing on this page says what a raised concentration produced. The distance between those two statements is not a technicality: it is the difference between what was measured and what people assume was measured.
Nothing here is a statement about the research material PepGenex supplies.
Mechanism under investigation
CJC-1295
Agonist
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Growth-hormone-releasing hormone receptor
Described in the publication as a long-acting analogue of growth-hormone-releasing hormone. The study measured plasma growth hormone and IGF-I concentrations following it; it did not characterise receptor binding.
Scope of the published work
Areas investigated
Plasma growth hormone concentration
Plasma IGF-I concentration
Pharmacokinetics
Growth hormone pulsatility
Models used
Randomised studies in healthy adults
The published record here reports hormone concentrations and pharmacokinetics in healthy adults. No clinical endpoint was measured, so no finding on this page describes an outcome in a person. Nothing here is a statement about the research material PepGenex supplies.
Limitations
Evidence represented on this page: in vitro, animal and human. The page reviews 3 published studies, and each figure is reported for the study that published it; results are not pooled across studies.
Common questions
What is CJC-1295?
CJC-1295 is a synthetic analogue of growth-hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), modified so that it persists in circulation far longer than GHRH itself, which is cleared within minutes.
How does CJC-1295 work, according to the published research?
Described in the publication as a long-acting analogue of growth-hormone-releasing hormone. The study measured plasma growth hormone and IGF-I concentrations following it; it did not characterise receptor binding.
What has published research on CJC-1295 found, and what are its limits?
This page records 3 publications, reporting laboratory (in vitro) work in 1, animal work in 1, human work in 2. Each is listed with its identifier under References.
Human studies represented: Ionescu et al., 2006, PMID 17018654; Teichman et al., 2006, PMID 16352683.
Evidence represented on this page: in vitro, animal and human.
The page reviews 3 published studies, and each figure is reported for the study that published it; results are not pooled across studies.
The published record here reports hormone concentrations and pharmacokinetics in healthy adults. No clinical endpoint was measured, so no finding on this page describes an outcome in a person. Nothing here is a statement about the research material PepGenex supplies.
Is CJC-1295 approved by the U.S. FDA?
This page cites no FDA approval record for CJC-1295; PepGenex Science states a U.S. regulatory status only where a sourced record exists.
PepGenex research materials are not FDA approved and are not for human or veterinary use.
What risks have published studies of CJC-1295 reported?
1 published human study on this page reports adverse events or safety measurements. Each is listed with its publication in the adverse-events section of this page.
Trial events do not establish a complete safety profile.
What adverse events have been reported in published studies of CJC-1295?
Adverse events and safety measurements as reported by the published human studies on this page. Each entry is attributed to its publication.
Teichman et al., 2006, PMID 16352683
Design and population
Two randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled ascending-amount studies, of 28 and 49 days, in healthy adults aged 21 to 61 at two investigational sites. The stated outcome measures were peak concentrations and area under the curve for growth hormone and IGF-I, and standard pharmacokinetic parameters for CJC-1295.
Events reported
No serious adverse reactions were reported. The publication describes the compound as relatively well tolerated over the amounts studied.
Trial events do not establish a complete safety profile.
Published research
Grouped by the kind of study. Select one to narrow what is shown below.
Preclinical (animal)(1)
Laboratory (in vitro)Preclinical (animal)
Human growth hormone-releasing factor (hGRF)1-29-albumin bioconjugates activate the GRF receptor on the anterior pituitary in rats: identification of CJC-1295 as a long-lasting GRF analog
Jetté L, Léger R, Thibaudeau K, et al., Endocrinology, 2005;146(7):3052-3058
published
CJC-1295 was described as a tetrasubstituted form of hGRF(1-29) with an added Nε-3-maleimidopropionamide derivative of lysine at the C terminus — a reactive group intended to bioconjugate to the free thiol on Cys34 of serum albumin. It was the best of three maleimido derivatives of hGRF(1-29) synthesised in the study.
All three maleimido derivatives, bioconjugated ex vivo to human serum albumin, showed enhanced in vitro stability against dipeptidylpeptidase-IV and were bioactive in a growth hormone secretion assay in cultured rat anterior pituitary cells.
In Sprague Dawley rats, Western blot analysis of plasma showed a CJC-1295-immunoreactive species on the band corresponding to serum albumin, appearing after 15 minutes and remaining in circulation beyond 24 hours; CJC-1295 itself was found in plasma beyond 72 hours.
Pulsatile secretion of growth hormone (GH) persists during continuous stimulation by CJC-1295, a long-acting GH-releasing hormone analog
Ionescu M, Frohman LA, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2006;91(12):4792-4797
published
Growth hormone was sampled every 20 minutes across an overnight 12-hour period in healthy men aged 20 to 40, once before and again one week after a single amount of CJC-1295 at one of two levels. The abstract describes a comparison within the same men before and after; it does not describe a placebo group and does not state how many men took part.
One week after the amount was given, growth hormone secretion was higher and its pulsatile pattern was preserved. The frequency and magnitude of secretory pulses were unaltered. Trough (basal) growth hormone concentrations rose 7.5-fold (P < 0.0001), mean growth hormone concentrations rose 46% (P < 0.01) and IGF-I concentrations rose 45% (P < 0.001).
No significant differences were observed between the responses to the two amounts studied, and the rise in IGF-I did not correlate with any of the growth hormone secretion parameters measured. The authors read the marked rise in trough growth hormone under continuous stimulation as implicating that effect in the IGF-I increase.
Prolonged stimulation of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I secretion by CJC-1295, a long-acting analog of GH-releasing hormone, in healthy adults
Teichman SL, Neale A, Lawrence B, Gagnon C, Castaigne JP, Frohman LA, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2006;91(3):799-805
published
Two randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled ascending-amount studies, of 28 and 49 days, in healthy adults aged 21 to 61 at two investigational sites. The stated outcome measures were peak concentrations and area under the curve for growth hormone and IGF-I, and standard pharmacokinetic parameters for CJC-1295.
After a single amount given, mean plasma growth hormone concentrations rose 2- to 10-fold in a manner related to the amount, and the rise was reported to persist for 6 days or more.
After a single amount given, mean plasma IGF-I concentrations rose 1.5- to 3-fold in a manner related to the amount, and the rise was reported to persist for 9 to 11 days.
After multiple amounts given, mean IGF-I concentrations were reported to remain above baseline for up to 28 days, which the publication describes as evidence of a cumulative effect.
The estimated half-life of CJC-1295 was reported as 5.8 to 8.1 days.
No serious adverse reactions were reported. The publication describes the compound as relatively well tolerated over the amounts studied.
What this study establishes
These studies establish how much growth hormone and IGF-I appeared in the blood of healthy adults after the compound was given, and for how long. That is a measurement of the compound's activity, and it is a real one: the persistence reported here is the property that distinguishes this analogue from the hormone it is modelled on.
Limitations
What they do not establish is what follows from it. Every number on this page is a concentration in plasma or a half-life. The studies recorded no endpoint describing the people in whom those concentrations were measured, so this publication supports no statement about what a raised hormone concentration produced in them — and a fold-increase is not a result waiting to be translated into one.
Classification, structure, recorded targets, evidence types and FDA status only, each read from the two compounds' own pages. These comparisons do not compare study results.
Sequence Tyr-Ala-Asp-Ala-Ile-Phe-Thr-Asn-Ser-Tyr-Arg-Lys-Val-Leu-Gly-Gln-Leu-Ser-Ala-Arg-Lys-Leu-Leu-Gln-Asp-Ile-Met-Ser-Arg-NH2; formula C149H246N44O42S
Not shown (no Drugs@FDA application record verified for this page)
Drugs@FDA lists two approved applications for sermorelin acetate, and the products under both are listed as discontinued. Source: Drugs@FDA, Applications NDA 019863 and NDA 020443.
Not shown (no Drugs@FDA application record verified for this page)
An FDA approved drug product containing tesamorelin exists. Source: Drugs@FDA, Application BLA 022505.
References
Published studies reviewed (3)
Prolonged stimulation of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I secretion by CJC-1295, a long-acting analog of GH-releasing hormone, in healthy adults — Teichman SL, Neale A, Lawrence B, Gagnon C, Castaigne JP, Frohman LA, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2006;91(3):799-805
Pulsatile secretion of growth hormone (GH) persists during continuous stimulation by CJC-1295, a long-acting GH-releasing hormone analog — Ionescu M, Frohman LA, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2006;91(12):4792-4797
Human growth hormone-releasing factor (hGRF)1-29-albumin bioconjugates activate the GRF receptor on the anterior pituitary in rats: identification of CJC-1295 as a long-lasting GRF analog — Jetté L, Léger R, Thibaudeau K, et al., Endocrinology, 2005;146(7):3052-3058
