CJC 1295 for Weight Loss | What to Know in 2023
CJC 1295 is one of the earliest synthetic derivatives of growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH). It consists of just the first 29 amino acids of GHRH in combination with a half-life prolonging add-on called DAC. It was created in an effort to produce a more soluble GHRH analogue that was easy to produce in large quantities and which prolonged the effects of GHRH. CJC 1295 is a full agonist of the GHRH receptor.CJC 1295 for Weight Loss
CJC 1295 is a potent stimulator of GH release from the anterior pituitary gland. Research shows that, by mimicking the effects of endogenous GHRH, CJC 1295 can increase growth hormone levels in mice by 2- to 10-fold. Because of the peptide’s long half-life, the effects of CJC-1295 can last for as long as six days[1].By increasing growth hormone (GH) levels, CJC 1295 causes
• Increased muscle growth,
• Increased long bone growth,
• Increased fat metabolism,
• Enhanced wound healing,
• Enhanced slow-wave sleep, and
• Enhanced cognition.
CJC 1295 makes it easier to both build muscle and burn fat. Research in mice in which the GHRH gene was ablated shows that while GHRH injections cannot normalize growth and rescue body composition, CJC 1295 can. What is more, CJC 1295 achieves this effect at half the dose of GHRH in the trials. Mice in the study exhibited normal body weight when given CJC 1295 while controls were obese[2].
It is worth noting that the relationship between GH levels and obesity is a complicated one at best. That said, the activities that naturally increase GH levels have also been linked to weight loss. Those activities include resistance exercise, intermittent fasting, avoiding too much sugar, and proper nutrient intake (especially essential amino acids). This suggests that weight loss isn’t really directly caused by dieting or exercise. Instead, diet and exercise stimulate GH release which is what really drives body composition change. This seems to bear out in animal studies which show decreased obesity and increased muscle mass when GH release is enhanced.
CJC 1295 May Increase Basal Metabolism
It is important to note that lean body mass, especially muscle, is important in calorie consumption. The more muscle an individual possesses, the higher his or her baseline metabolism. By increasing lean body mass in animal models, CJC 1295 has a profound effect on the number of calories that need to be consumed before they start being converted to fat. Thus, not only does CJC 1295 increase rates of fat burning, it also increases the threshold for fat formation, making it harder for the body to deposit fat in the first place and easier for it to burn fat that already exists.CJC 1295 Additional Effects
GH does not just impact body composition. Research has shown that higher levels of GH can improve sleep, enhance cognition, and accelerate wound healing (especially skin and tendon healing). Compounds like CJC 1295 that enhance GH release have been shown in animal studies to benefit heart health, ward off dementia, accelerate tendon repair, and improve the rate of onset and duration of slow-sleep. Increased slow-wave sleep has been linked to muscle recovery and improved memory formation. Thus, CJC 1295, by increasing sleep quality, actually further increases muscle building and thus weight loss. CJC 1295 has also been linked to improvements in fertility in certain settings[3].There are actually a number of GH secretion enhancing peptides (GH secretagogues) under active investigation by the scientific community and all have various additional effects that are of interest. One of the things that sets CJC 1295 apart from many (though not all) of the other GH secretagogues is that it does not alter normal GH release patterns. In animal studies, even though CJC 1295 increased the total amount of GH released from the anterior pituitary, it preserved the pulsatile nature of GH release[4]. It is thought that this feature might reduce side effects, like excessive long bone growth, seen with other GH secretagogues.
CJC 1295 vs CJC 1295 DAC
There is a lot of confusion surrounding what, exactly CJC 1295 is. Some people insist it is simply the first 29 amino acids of the GHRH molecule while others insist it is the first 29 amino acids of the GHRH molecule with the addition of DAC (drug affinity complex). The original maker of DAC, ConjuChem Biotechnologies, referred to the molecule containing DAC as simply CJC 1295. Thus, in its purest form, CJC 1295 refers to the first 29 amino acids of the GHRH molecule with the addiction of DAC. To avoid confusion, however, it has become convention to refer to CJC 1295 that contains DAC as CJC 1295-DAC. When it does not contain DAC it should be referred to correctly as Modified GRF (1-29) or also CJC 1295-no DAC.DAC is special peptide construct that is added to end of the first 29 amino acids of GHRH (called GRF) to enhance stability in the blood. Normally, GRF lasts a matter of minutes in the blood before being broken down and rendered in effective. With the addition of DAC, the half-life of GRF is increased from mere minutes to nearly twenty-four hours which is significantly longer than the GH spikes naturally occurring in the body.
CJC 1295 for Weight Loss: Summary
As a GH secretion enhancer, CJC 1295 can increase muscle building, improve sleep, and burn fat. Its unique chemical structure gives CJC 1295 a long half-life and potent effects while minimizing side effects. Research in animal models shows that CJC 1295 is at least as effective as natural GHRH, when used at the right dose, in normalizing GH secretion. There is ongoing research investigating the use of CJC 1295 with another class of GH secretagogues called growth hormone secretagogue receptor agonists. These peptides, like ipamorelin, stimulate GH secretion via a different mechanism. Using them in tandem with CJC 1295 is showing enhanced GH release in animal models compared to using either peptide class alone.Resources
[1]S. L. Teichman, A. Neale, B. Lawrence, C. Gagnon, J.-P. Castaigne, and L. A. Frohman, “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., vol. 91, no. 3, pp. 799–805, Mar. 2006, doi: 10.1210/jc.2005-1536.[2]M. Alba et al., “Once-daily administration of CJC-1295, a long-acting growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) analog, normalizes growth in the GHRH knockout mouse,” Am. J. Physiol. Endocrinol. Metab., vol. 291, no. 6, pp. E1290-1294, Dec. 2006, doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.00201.2006.
[3]V. A, C. G, B. A, G. G, A. Pg, and G. Ar, “Clinical use of growth hormone-releasing factor for induction of superovulation.,” Hum. Reprod. Oxf. Engl., vol. 6, no. 9, Art. no. 9, Oct. 1991, doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.humrep.a137517.
[4]M. Ionescu and L. A. Frohman, “Pulsatile secretion of growth hormone (GH) persists during continuous stimulation by CJC-1295, a long-acting GH-releasing hormone analog,” J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., vol. 91, no. 12, Art. no. 12, Dec. 2006, doi: 10.1210/jc.2006-1702.
