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Research & Science · 5 min read

CJC-1295 (no DAC): The GHRH Analog and the DAC Question

Two compounds that share a name

The name "CJC-1295" gets used for two related but genuinely different molecules, and most of the confusion in this corner of the literature comes from blurring them.

Both are analogs of the first 29 amino acids of growth-hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), the hypothalamic signal that tells the pituitary to release growth hormone. GHRH(1-29), sometimes called sermorelin, is the minimal fragment that retains GHRH activity. On its own it breaks down in minutes. The CJC-1295 work modified that fragment to resist degradation.

  • CJC-1295 with DAC adds a *Drug Affinity Complex*, a chemical group that binds circulating albumin and keeps the molecule in the bloodstream for days.
  • CJC-1295 without DAC, also called Modified GRF (1-29), keeps the stabilizing amino-acid substitutions but omits the albumin-binding group. It is short-acting, with an effect measured in minutes-to-hours rather than days.

The product here is the no-DAC version.

Why the receptor mechanism is the same

Both versions act at the GHRH receptor on pituitary somatotroph cells. The appeal of a GHRH-receptor approach, in research terms, is that it works *with* the body's own control loop: the pituitary still releases GH in pulses and is still subject to negative feedback, rather than being overridden the way exogenous GH would override it. The two compounds differ in duration, not in the receptor they hit.

What the human research examined, and on which version

The published human pharmacology is on the DAC version. A study in healthy adults found that single injections of CJC-1295 (with DAC) produced sustained, multi-day increases in GH and IGF-I (Teichman et al., *J Clin Endocrinol Metab* 2006). A companion study asked a sharper question, does a long-acting, continuous GHRH signal flatten the natural pulses?, and reported that pulsatile GH secretion persisted even under continuous stimulation (Ionescu & Frohman, *J Clin Endocrinol Metab* 2006).

The no-DAC version does not have an equivalent published human trial record. What can be said about it rests on the shared GHRH(1-29) backbone and its known short duration, not on its own clinical dataset.

Open questions

  • The no-DAC human data gap. Inferring no-DAC behavior from DAC studies is reasonable for the receptor mechanism but not for kinetics, dosing, or safety, those are exactly what the DAC changes.
  • Often co-studied with a GHRP. Research designs frequently pair a GHRH analog with a ghrelin-receptor secretagogue like ipamorelin, because the two act on different receptors; isolating either one's contribution is its own methodological challenge.

Supplied lyophilized for laboratory research use only. Not for human consumption.

References

  1. Teichman SL, et al. 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. *J Clin Endocrinol Metab.* 2006;91(3):799–805. PubMed
  2. Ionescu M, Frohman LA. Pulsatile secretion of growth hormone (GH) persists during continuous stimulation by CJC-1295, a long-acting GH-releasing hormone analog. *J Clin Endocrinol Metab.* 2006;91(12):4792–4797. PubMed