# CJC-1295: A Calm Reading of the GHRH-Analog Research > CJC-1295 is a long-acting GHRH analog that raised growth hormone and IGF-1 for days in early human studies. A cited digest of the literature, DAC and no-DAC forms kept apart. A small, old, and quiet literature — a handful of Phase-1 pharmacokinetic papers and a rat bioconjugate study — read calmly and cited line by line. The DAC and no-DAC forms are kept carefully apart. ## What the published CJC-1295 literature actually measured CJC-1295 raised growth hormone and IGF-1 for days from a single injection. In healthy adults, one subcutaneous dose of 30 or 60 micrograms per kilogram produced a 2- to 10-fold rise in mean plasma GH that lasted six days or more, alongside a 1.5- to 3-fold rise in IGF-1 that held for nine to eleven days; after repeated dosing, IGF-1 stayed above baseline for as long as 28 days, and the analog's own half-life was estimated at 5.8 to 8.1 days [1]. That single result is the whole reason the compound exists, and it is the spine of this site. CJC-1295 is a synthetic analog of growth-hormone-releasing hormone, built on the first 29 residues of human GH-releasing factor — hGRF(1-29) — with four amino-acid substitutions that block the proteases which would otherwise clear native GHRH within minutes [6]. The DAC variant adds one more trick: a maleimide linker that bonds covalently to circulating serum albumin, dragging the molecule's half-life toward that of albumin itself and turning a minutes-long signal into a multi-day one [6]. The literature on this site is genuinely thin — a few mid-2000s human pharmacokinetic studies, one rat study, one knockout-mouse study, a proteomics note — and we read it that way, without padding. The most useful thing to understand first is that two very different molecules share the name. The long-acting [DAC vs no-DAC](/dac-vs-no-dac) distinction is the single most-conflated fact about this compound: CJC-1295 DAC carries the albumin-binding moiety and acts for days; the no-DAC form, marketed as Modified GRF 1-29, keeps the four substitutions but drops the albumin linker and is short-acting, clearing in the minutes-to-hours range [6]. Forums and product pages routinely blur them. The studies do not. ## CJC-1295 as a GHRH-analog peptide CJC-1295 is a peptide, not a steroid and not exogenous growth hormone. It is a chain of amino acids built on the active 1-29 fragment of human GHRH, and it works by the same route the body's own hormone uses: binding the GHRH receptor on the anterior pituitary's somatotroph cells, switching on the Gs/cAMP/PKA signaling that drives GH synthesis and pulsatile release [6]. The released GH then reaches the liver and raises IGF-1, the downstream hormone that carries much of GH's anabolic signal [1]. What makes CJC-1295 a peptide of research interest rather than a curiosity is engineering, not novelty of target. Native GHRH(1-29) is cleaved almost immediately by dipeptidylpeptidase-IV; the D-alanine substitution at position 2 blocks that cut, and three further substitutions guard against deamidation and oxidation [6]. The result is a GHRH signal that survives long enough to be studied as a drug. The albumin-conjugation chemistry of the DAC form was the lead candidate from a series of hGRF(1-29)-albumin bioconjugates screened in rats, where it produced a 4-fold larger GH response than the unconjugated peptide and remained detectable in plasma beyond 72 hours [6]. That is the entire mechanical story, and it is worth telling plainly because most of what circulates online frames CJC-1295 as an anti-aging or muscle-building shortcut. The peer-reviewed record describes a receptor, a signaling cascade, and a pharmacokinetic curve — biomarker movements in research participants, not promised outcomes. ## A literature that is small, old, and honest about its gaps Two early human studies anchor the record. Teichman and colleagues established the multi-day GH and IGF-1 kinetics and the 5.8-8.1 day half-life [1]; Ionescu and Frohman showed that a single dose raised basal GH roughly 7.5-fold and lifted mean GH and IGF-1 by 45 to 46 percent a week later, while the natural pulse pattern of GH secretion stayed intact [2]. That last point matters: continuous GHRH-receptor stimulation did not flatten GH into a steady drip, which is biologically unusual and one of the more interesting findings in the set. The animal work fills in the design rationale. In GHRH-knockout mice, 2 micrograms of CJC-1295 once every 24 hours fully normalized body weight and length, while dosing every 48 to 72 hours grew progressively less effective — evidence that the long-acting analog's once-daily schedule is enough to restore GH-axis-dependent growth [7]. A proteomics study in eleven healthy men found reproducible serum protein shifts that tracked linearly with IGF-1, hinting at biomarkers of axis activation [3]. And then the gaps. There are no large efficacy trials and no long-term safety data in healthy adults. A Phase-2 program in HIV-associated visceral obesity was discontinued, and the DAC development line did not advance [1]. CJC-1295 is not approved for human use anywhere. We treat those facts as findings in their own right, surfaced rather than buried, and we walk the [published research findings](/research) in full on the research page. ## Where this site goes from here This is an editorial digest, organized so a careful reader can get the real shape of the evidence in a few pages. The [research](/research) page walks every study and the reported concerns. The [DAC vs no-DAC](/dac-vs-no-dac) page is the structural heart — the one distinction that, once understood, prevents most of the confusion around this compound, including the half-life contrast and the Modified GRF 1-29 question. The [GH / IGF-1 axis](/gh-igf-axis) page follows the signal from receptor to pulse to IGF-1 swell, and is where the ipamorelin two-receptor rationale lives. The [doses used in the research](/dosage) page reports what was administered to which species, at what dose, by what route — never a human protocol. The [common questions](/faq) page answers the queries people actually type, and the [study references](/references) page lists every citation with its DOI and PubMed link. Nothing here is dispensed, sold, or prescribed; the title above this page deliberately reads CJC-1295 as a subject of study, not a product on a shelf. ### What is CJC-1295? A synthetic analog of growth-hormone-releasing hormone built on hGRF(1-29) with four protease-resistant substitutions; the DAC variant adds covalent serum-albumin binding for a multi-day half-life [6]. The no-DAC form keeps the substitutions but lacks the albumin linker and is short-acting. ### What does CJC-1295 do? It binds the pituitary GHRH receptor to stimulate growth-hormone release, which in turn raises IGF-1 [6]. In healthy adults, single doses elevated GH and IGF-1 for days, with the half-life estimated at 5.8 to 8.1 days [1]. It moves biomarkers in research participants; it is not an approved therapy. --- An after-hours reading of the CJC-1295 literature — the GH and IGF-1 findings let breathe and cited to source, the multi-day DAC form held apart from the short-acting no-DAC one, and the empty long-term-safety line left openly unfilled; no clinic behind the lamplight and nothing here dispensed or sold.