GnRH and gonadotropins — the analogues that have a label
Triptorelin, leuprorelin and goserelin have 86, 124 and 125 registered phase 3 trials, in cancer and fertility. Among the records from the five searches, none is about recovery after anabolic steroids
Experimental material. Read before using anything from here.
Nothing on this page is a medical recommendation, prescription or treatment plan. It is an organized translation of protocols circulating in research communities and, where it exists, of what published trials tested. The two are marked differently — and they are not equivalent.
Most of the compounds here have no FDA approval for human use. Several are sold labeled "research use only", which means they have not gone through purity, sterility or dosage controls for human consumption. A community-reported dose is not a validated dose: it is what someone reported having done.
Talk to a licensed health professional before considering any of these compounds. If you already use one and feel anything unexpected, seek care — do not wait for the next routine test.
Summary
Five reproductive-axis hormones sold as research peptides: the GnRH analogues triptorelin, leuprorelin, goserelin and histrelin, and menotropins (hMG). Unlike most of this site, all five are drugs with a label. And the label contradicts the sales pitch: a continuous GnRH analogue shuts the axis down, it doesn't restart it — it is a prostate and breast cancer drug.
Why these five are together
This site already had kisspeptin, gonadorelin and hCG (on the muscle, bone and HPG axis page). Missing were the long-acting GnRH analogues — triptorelin, leuprorelin, goserelin and histrelin — and menotropins, the gonadotropin extracted from the urine of menopausal women. All five are in the library of a Brazilian peptide store, which I used as a list of what was missing here, and triptorelin appears there described as used in PCT to restore the hormonal axis after cycles. This site neither cites nor links suppliers.
The contrast is the subject of the page: all five are real drugs, with a label in the United States and, for four of them, active registration in Brazil. And the label says the opposite of the promise. A GnRH analogue given continuously does not switch the axis on — it switches it off. The histrelin implant label spells it out: after an initial stimulation phase, chronic administration desensitizes the pituitary and reduces steroid production in the ovary and the testis. That is why triptorelin, leuprorelin and goserelin are prostate and breast cancer drugs.
Two method caveats, before the numbers. One: the phase 3 counts for these analogues are large because they enter as background treatment in cancer trials — triptorelin's largest record is a Roche trial of another drug, giredestrant, in breast cancer. The number measures presence in protocols, not study of the analogue on its own. Two: the leuprorelin search uses both names, leuprolide (the name in the United States) and leuprorelin (the INN).
No number on this page came from the site's secondary source.
How much evidence exists, compound by compound
The numbers below were gathered by me on October 5, 2026, on PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov. Each row's query is written out in full, next to the number, so anyone can repeat it and contradict me — and so the script that rechecks this site's counts can run all of them.
The condition column is not a claim about mechanism: it is the Condition field copied from the largest phase 3 record that the search itself returned. When there is no phase 3 record, the cell says so.
| Compound | Condition in phase 3 registrations | Query | Articles in PubMed | Studies on ClinicalTrials.gov |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Triptorelin | Early Breast Cancer | triptorelin | 2.473 | 297 |
| Leuprorelin | Breast Cancer | leuprolide OR leuprorelin | 4.222 | 521 |
| Goserelin | Breast Cancer | goserelin | 2.162 | 416 |
| Histrelin | Prostate Adenocarcinoma; Stage III Prostate Cancer AJCC v8; Stage IVA Prostate Cancer AJCC v8 | histrelin | 137 | 15 |
| Menotropins (hMG) | Subfertility | menotropins OR "human menopausal gonadotropin" | 3.914 | 170 |
What exists in phase 3, and who it belongs to
An article count measures academic attention, not outcome evidence. The table below separates what has a registered phase 3 trial — and shows the largest record the search returned, with the declared number of participants and the sponsor. A registration is not a result.
| Compound | Query | Registered phase 3 trials | The largest registration I opened |
|---|---|---|---|
| Triptorelin | (triptorelin) AND AREA[Phase]PHASE3 | 86 | NCT04961996 · n = 4,170 · Hoffmann-La Roche Early Breast Cancer |
| Leuprorelin | (leuprolide OR leuprorelin) AND AREA[Phase]PHASE3 | 124 | NCT00002582 · n = 6,000 · Institute of Cancer Research, United Kingdom Breast Cancer |
| Goserelin | (goserelin) AND AREA[Phase]PHASE3 | 125 | NCT00002582 · n = 6,000 · Institute of Cancer Research, United Kingdom Breast Cancer |
| Histrelin | (histrelin) AND AREA[Phase]PHASE3 | 7 | NCT04513717 · n = 2,753 · NRG Oncology Prostate Adenocarcinoma, Stage III Prostate Cancer AJCC v8, Stage IVA Prostate Cancer AJCC v8 |
| Menotropins (hMG) | (menotropins OR "human menopausal gonadotropin") AND AREA[Phase]PHASE3 | 32 | NCT02912988 · n = 900 · The University of Hong Kong Subfertility |
Where the numbers don't add up
- No record tests recovery after anabolic steroids. I swept the title and conditions of the 1,419 records the five searches returned (the same trial can appear in more than one), looking for anabolic steroids, bodybuilding and post-cycle recovery. I found 0. The 15 that mention hypogonadism deal with the diagnosis of delayed puberty, congenital hypogonadism, castration in prostate cancer, contraception and pharmacokinetics.
- Triptorelin has 86 registered phase 3 trials, and the US labels give two indications: advanced prostate cancer (TRELSTAR) and central precocious puberty from age 2 (TRIPTODUR). In both, the goal is to lower sex hormones. It is the same active ingredient offered to "restart" a man's axis.
- Histrelin is the only one of the five without active registration in Brazil — 0 registrations. In the United States, the only application the search returns is a subcutaneous implant for central precocious puberty.
- Menotropins is a fertility drug. 32 phase 3 trials, with infertility and assisted reproduction as the conditions in all the ones I looked at, and the US label indicates it to develop multiple follicles in an assisted reproduction cycle. In Brazil, 2 active registrations, in the gonadotropic hormone class.
Approval in the United States
For those that have a drug name in the United States, I queried Drugs@FDA through the public openFDA API, on the same day. The search is written in the table; the date is that of the earliest approved original submission the search returned.
| Compound | openFDA search | Applications returned | Brands | Earliest original approval | Market status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Triptorelin | openfda.generic_name:"TRIPTORELIN" | 4 | TRELSTAR, TRIPTODUR KIT | 15/06/2000 | Prescription |
| Leuprorelin | openfda.generic_name:"LEUPROLIDE" | 21 | CAMCEVI KIT, ELIGARD KIT, FENSOLVI KIT, LEUPROLIDE ACETATE, LEUPROLIDE ACETATE FOR DEPOT SUSPENSION, LUPRON DEPOT, LUPRON DEPOT-PED KIT | 26/01/1989 | Discontinued, Prescription |
| Goserelin | openfda.generic_name:"GOSERELIN" | 2 | ZOLADEX | 29/12/1989 | Prescription |
| Histrelin | openfda.generic_name:"HISTRELIN" | 1 | SUPPRELIN LA | 03/05/2007 | Prescription |
| Menotropins (hMG) | openfda.generic_name:"MENOTROPINS" | 1 | MENOPUR | 29/10/2004 | Prescription |
In Brazil
I searched every active ingredient in the open data on registered medicines in Brazil, downloaded on October 5, 2026 — 43,596 rows, counting only Active status, in the active ingredient and in the product name, ignoring accents and case. The therapeutic class is the one the dataset itself declares.
4 of the 5 have a registered product. Registration does not turn the vial sold as a research peptide into a medicine: what was registered is that manufacturer's product, with that presentation and that indication.
| Active ingredient | Search pattern | Active registrations | Declared therapeutic class | Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Triptorelin | TRIPTORREL | 3 | OTHER PRODUCTS NOT CLASSIFIED IN A SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC CLASS; OTHER PRODUCTS FOR THE DIGESTIVE TRACT AND METABOLISM | GONAPEPTYL DAILY, GONAPEPTYL DEPOT, NEO DECAPEPTYL |
| Leuprorelin | LEUPRORREL | 2 | ANTINEOPLASTIC; OTHER MEDIATOR HORMONES AND EQUIVALENT PRODUCTS | ELIGARD, LECTRUM |
| Goserelin | GOSSERREL | 1 | ANTINEOPLASICO | ZOLADEX |
| Histrelin | HISTREL | 0 | — | — |
| Menotropins (hMG) | MENOTROP | 2 | GONADOTROPIC HORMONE | MENOPUR, MERIONAL HG |
References
- Public ClinicalTrials.gov API, version 2 — the source for all the study and phase 3 counts on this page.
- PubMed E-utilities (esearch) — the basis for all article counts on this page.
- SUPPRELIN LA (histrelin) label on DailyMed — indication in central precocious puberty and the mechanism of pituitary desensitization with continuous use.
- TRELSTAR (triptorelin) label on DailyMed — indication in advanced prostate cancer.
- TRIPTODUR (triptorelin) label on DailyMed — indication in central precocious puberty from age 2.
- MENOPUR (menotropins) label on DailyMed — indication in assisted reproduction.
- Record NCT04961996 on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- openFDA API, drugsfda endpoint — the applications and approval dates on this page.