Somatropin
Recombinant human growth hormone · Multiple brands, including Genotropin, Norditropin, Humatrope
- UK status
- Licensed, and a Class C controlled drug
- Availability
- Prescription only
- Evidence base
- Human RCT for licensed uses
- Controlled drug
- Yes, Class C
Sequence
191 amino acids. Too long to render usefully. See the SPC.
Growth hormone is included here because it sits in the same conversation as peptides in gyms and online, and because its legal position is stricter than most people realise.
01What it is
Somatropin is human growth hormone produced by recombinant DNA technology, a protein of 191 amino acids identical in sequence to the hormone the pituitary gland makes. It is a protein rather than a short peptide, which is a difference of scale rather than category.
02UK legal and licensing status
Somatropin is a licensed prescription-only medicine in the UK for specific conditions, principally growth hormone deficiency in children and adults, and certain named genetic conditions. Those licences are narrow and clinically defined.
Growth hormone is a Class C controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Possession for personal use is not an offence, but supply and production are, and the penalties are considerably more serious than for an unlicensed medicine. This is the key distinction between somatropin and the other unlicensed compounds in this register.
Athletes: prohibited by WADA under peptide hormones and growth factors, at all times.
03How it works
Growth hormone acts partly directly and partly by stimulating the liver to produce IGF-1, insulin-like growth factor 1, which mediates many of its effects on tissue growth. It also affects how the body handles fat and glucose, which is the basis of both its therapeutic use and its misuse.
04What the evidence shows
For its licensed indications the evidence base is long-standing and robust. That evidence concerns treating deficiency, restoring a hormone to a normal level in people who lack it.
Evidence that a hormone helps people who are deficient in it is not evidence that more of it helps people who are not. Anti-ageing and physique claims for growth hormone rest largely on extrapolation from deficiency treatment, and the trials that would test them in healthy adults have generally not been done, or have not supported the claims.
Long-term effects of supraphysiological use in healthy adults are poorly characterised, and concerns about glucose metabolism and tissue growth are the reason it is prescribed cautiously even for licensed indications.
05Reported harms
Recognised effects include fluid retention, joint and muscle pain, carpal tunnel symptoms and effects on glucose tolerance. The Summary of Product Characteristics for each brand carries the full frequency table.
Counterfeit growth hormone is widespread in illicit supply, and product bought outside a pharmacy frequently is not what the label claims.
06Sources
Links go to the primary source. Where a source is behind a paywall or requires registration, the citation is given so you can find it yourself.
- Summary of Product Characteristicselectronic medicines compendium
- Somatropin monographBNF
- Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 classificationlegislation.gov.uk
- Prohibited List, peptide hormones and growth factorsWADA
07Change history
Every substantive change to this record is logged here with its date. Corrections are made openly, not quietly.
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