Compounds · Secretagogues & GH axis

Evidence quality in the secretagogue literature: an honest assessment

Compounds › Secretagogues & GH axis ipamorelin observational data GHRP class tesamorelin needs a source CJC-1295

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Solved by sa.vogel in post #2

the opening post is right about the mechanism and I think understates the practical bit. GHRH analogues versus ghrelin mimetics are often conflated but they are different mechanisms. GHRH analogues (like CJC-1295) cause the pituitary to release growth hormone. Ghrelin mimetics (like GHRPs) act on the ghrelin receptor…

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s.salgadoTL2 Moderator2 Jul 2026#1

Evidence quality in the secretagogue literature: an honest assessment Writing it up because I had to work it out twice and would rather nobody else did.

Comparing SURMOUNT-OSA (N Engl J Med, 2024) with STEP 8 (JAMA, 2022) and finding the comparison harder than it looks.

Different populations, different durations, different endpoints defined slightly differently, and in one case a different estimand. People compare the headline percentages anyway, including me until recently.

Is there a defensible way to put these side by side, or is the honest answer that there is not and we should stop?

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sa.vogelTL2 Moderator Solution12 Jul 2026 · edited#2

the opening post is right about the mechanism and I think understates the practical bit.

GHRH analogues versus ghrelin mimetics are often conflated but they are different mechanisms. GHRH analogues (like CJC-1295) cause the pituitary to release growth hormone. Ghrelin mimetics (like GHRPs) act on the ghrelin receptor directly. The effect on growth hormone secretion is similar but the mechanisms are distinct.

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KTurkingtonTL3Regular19 Jul 2026#3

IGF-1 as a surrogate: it is a better integrated measure than a spot growth hormone level and it is still a surrogate, with all the caveats that come with surrogates. Stable or rising IGF-1 is not the same as "this is working" in any health-related sense.

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About the Secretagogues & GH axis categoryCompounds › Secretagogues & GH axis · 10 replies
Ipamorelin selectivity claims and where they came fromCompounds › Secretagogues & GH axis · 56 replies

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