Sermorelin (GRF 1-29 NH2, also catalogued as hGHRH(1-29)NH2) is the synthetic, C-terminally amidated 1-29 fragment of human growth hormone-releasing factor (GRF, also GHRH). Full-length GRF was isolated in 1982 as a 44-residue peptide from a human pancreatic tumour, and its synthetic replicate stimulated growth hormone secretion in vitro and in vivo. Truncation studies in cultured rat anterior pituitary cells showed that the 1-29 amide retains full intrinsic activity at about half the potency of the full-length peptide. Published work covers structure-activity studies in pituitary cells and animals, plasma degradation, a 1999 review of its clinical pharmacology, and anti-doping detection methods.