Peptide LibraryHuman Growth Hormone (Somatropin) dosage in published studies and labels
These are the doses used for Human Growth Hormone (Somatropin) in FDA labelling and published clinical studies, reported as each source states them, one row per regimen. They describe what was studied or approved for a specific population. They are not a recommendation, and none of them is a dose for any individual.
Research and educational reference only. This is not medical advice, and no figure on this page is a dosing recommendation.
Last checked against primary sources:
Studied regimens and sources
Somatropin, recombinant human growth hormone, has FDA-approved human dosages that depend on the indication and the product. Children are dosed by weight: for growth hormone deficiency 0.16–0.3 mg/kg per week across the current labels, usually divided into subcutaneous injections on 6 or 7 days. Adults with growth hormone deficiency start at about 0.2 mg/day (range 0.15–0.30 mg/day) and are titrated against serum IGF-1, and Serostim for HIV-associated wasting is 0.1 mg/kg once daily at bedtime, up to 6 mg. No label covers anti-ageing, body-composition or performance use in healthy adults.
FDA Approved
| Human dosing established | Yes |
|---|---|
| Route | Subcutaneous |
| Frequency | Daily subcutaneous injection; paediatric weekly doses are divided over 6 or 7 days (3, 6 or 7 for Zomacton), and Serostim is given once daily at bedtime |
| Duration studied | Continuous. Paediatric treatment for growth stops when the epiphyses fuse; the adult growth hormone deficiency labels set no fixed course length; the Serostim label has no controlled data beyond 48 weeks |
| Titration | Adult growth hormone deficiency: start at about 0.2 mg/day (range 0.15–0.30 mg/day) and increase every 1–2 months by about 0.1–0.2 mg/day, guided by clinical response, adverse effects and age- and sex-adjusted serum IGF-1; the labels advise a lower start and smaller steps in older patients, and note that oestrogen-replete women and women on oral oestrogen may need higher doses. Children: individualised by growth response. Serostim: weight-banded with no escalation schedule; 0.1 mg/kg every other day should be considered in patients at increased risk of adverse effects. |
| Half-life | 3.0–3.8 hours after subcutaneous injection in the Genotropin and Humatrope labels (7–10 hours in the Norditropin label), because absorption from the injection site is slow; 0.4 hours intravenously (Genotropin label) |
| Evidence level | FDA Approved |
| Last reviewed | 2026-10-05 |
Research-reported dosing
Doses as studied, one row per regimen. Different trials used different regimens; they are listed separately rather than averaged.
| Study / context | Population | Dose | Route | Frequency | Duration | Outcome studied | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FDA label — Genotropin, adult growth hormone deficiencyFDA-approved label · FDA prescribing information | Adults with adult-onset or childhood-onset growth hormone deficiency | Non-weight based: about 0.2 mg/day to start (range 0.15–0.30 mg/day), increased every 1–2 months by about 0.1–0.2 mg/day. Weight based: not more than 0.04 mg/kg/week to start, increased at 4–8 week intervals to not more than 0.08 mg/kg/week | Subcutaneous, thigh, buttocks or abdomen, rotating sites; not intravenously | Daily; the weekly dose is divided into 6 or 7 injections | Continuous; titrated against clinical response, adverse effects and age- and sex-adjusted serum IGF-I | Replacement of endogenous growth hormone | GENOTROPIN (somatropin) for injection — FDA prescribing information, DailyMed |
| FDA label — Humatrope, paediatric growth hormone deficiencyFDA-approved label · FDA prescribing information | Children with growth failure due to inadequate secretion of endogenous growth hormone | 0.18–0.3 mg/kg/week (0.026–0.043 mg/kg/day) | Subcutaneous, back of the upper arm, abdomen, buttock or thigh, rotating sites | Weekly dose divided into equal doses given 6 or 7 days per week | Individualised by growth response; stopped for linear growth once the epiphyses fuse | Linear growth | HUMATROPE (somatropin) for injection — FDA prescribing information, DailyMed |
| FDA label — Serostim, HIV-associated wasting or cachexiaFDA-approved label · FDA prescribing information | Adults with HIV and wasting or cachexia, on concomitant antiretroviral therapy | 0.1 mg/kg, up to 6 mg: 6 mg above 55 kg, 5 mg at 45–55 kg, 4 mg at 35–45 kg, 0.1 mg/kg below 35 kg | Subcutaneous, thigh, upper arm, abdomen or buttock, rotating sites | Once daily at bedtime; 0.1 mg/kg every other day should be considered in patients at increased risk of adverse effects such as glucose intolerance | Most of the effect was apparent after 12 weeks; no controlled data beyond 48 weeks | Lean body mass, body weight and physical endurance | SEROSTIM (somatropin) for injection — FDA prescribing information, DailyMed |
| Healthy adults aged 65–88 — randomised trial (Blackman et al., 2002)Clinical trial · Randomised double-blind placebo-controlled factorial trial of growth hormone and sex steroids | Healthy community-dwelling women (n=57) and men (n=74) aged 65 to 88 | 30 mcg/kg to start, reduced to 20 mcg/kg | Subcutaneous | 3 times weekly | 26 weeks | Lean body mass rose and fat mass fell; strength did not increase significantly except a marginal gain with growth hormone plus testosterone in men; diabetes or glucose intolerance occurred in 18 men given growth hormone versus 7 not given it | Blackman MR et al. Growth hormone and sex steroid administration in healthy aged women and men: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2002. |
| Recreational athletes — randomised trial (Meinhardt et al., 2010)Clinical trial · Randomised placebo-controlled blinded trial, with testosterone arms in men | Recreationally trained adults, 63 men and 33 women, mean age 27.9 | 2 mg/day | Subcutaneous | Daily | 8 weeks, then a 6-week washout | Fat mass fell and lean body mass rose through extracellular water; sprint capacity rose by 3.9% and the gain was lost 6 weeks after stopping; endurance, strength and power did not change significantly | Meinhardt U et al. The effects of growth hormone on body composition and physical performance in recreational athletes: a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med. 2010. |
Where sources disagree
- There is no single somatropin dose. Children are dosed by body weight per week, and the figure depends on both indication and product: for growth hormone deficiency the labels give 0.16–0.24 mg/kg/week (Genotropin, Omnitrope), 0.17–0.24 mg/kg/week (Norditropin) and 0.18–0.3 mg/kg/week (Humatrope, Zomacton), while children born small for gestational age may receive up to 0.47–0.48 mg/kg/week. Adults with growth hormone deficiency are instead started at about 0.2 mg/day and titrated against serum IGF-1; a paediatric per-kilogram figure applied to an adult gives several times the adult starting dose.
- Even for adult growth hormone deficiency the labels are not interchangeable. All five daily somatropin labels reviewed allow a start of about 0.2 mg/day (range 0.15–0.30 mg/day), rising by about 0.1–0.2 mg/day every 1–2 months, but their weight-based alternatives differ: not more than 0.04 rising to not more than 0.08 mg/kg/week (Genotropin, Omnitrope), 0.006 rising to a maximum of 0.0125 mg/kg daily (Humatrope, Zomacton), and 0.004 rising to a maximum of 0.016 mg/kg daily (Norditropin). The Humatrope, Zomacton and Norditropin labels do not recommend the weight-based option for obese patients.
- The Serostim regimen for HIV-associated wasting, up to 6 mg once daily, is 30 times the usual adult growth hormone deficiency starting dose of about 0.2 mg/day. The label ties it to adults with HIV wasting or cachexia on antiretroviral therapy and has no controlled data beyond 48 weeks; it is not a reference point for any other use.
- Sogroya (somapacitan), Skytrofa (lonapegsomatropin) and Ngenla (somatrogon) are once-weekly growth hormone products with labels of their own. Somapacitan is a growth hormone analogue carrying an albumin-binding side chain, somatrogon is growth hormone fused to peptides from the beta chain of hCG, and lonapegsomatropin is a prodrug that releases somatropin from a polyethylene glycol carrier. Their doses do not convert to daily somatropin: Ngenla's paediatric dose of 0.66 mg/kg once weekly is more than double the weekly total in any daily somatropin label for the same indication.
- No somatropin label covers anti-ageing, body composition or athletic performance in healthy adults. In the United States, 21 U.S.C. 333(e) makes it a federal offence to knowingly distribute human growth hormone, or possess it with intent to distribute, for any use in humans other than the treatment of a disease or other recognised medical condition authorised by the FDA and ordered by a physician.
- Trials in healthy people show changes in body composition more than in function. A systematic review of randomised trials in healthy older adults (Liu et al., Annals of Internal Medicine, 2007) found about 2.1 kg more lean mass and 2.1 kg less fat with no significant change in weight, more soft-tissue oedema, joint pain, carpal tunnel syndrome and gynaecomastia, and concluded that growth hormone cannot be recommended as an anti-ageing therapy. A companion review of young, fit participants (Liu et al., 2008) found lean mass rose but strength and exercise capacity did not appear to improve.
- Material sold as "HGH" outside the prescription supply chain, including research-labelled vials, is not any of the labelled products: its identity, content and sterility are not covered by the labels cited here, and their regimens do not describe it. DailyMed also lists homeopathic "HGH" preparations, one naming somatropin at 6C, 100C and 200C dilutions; those are not somatropin dosage forms.
- US labels dose somatropin in milligrams. Where a label converts, it uses about 3 IU per mg: the Humatrope label lists its 6, 12 and 24 mg cartridges as 18, 36 and 72 IU. The same label also gives 0.1 mg/kg as 0.27 IU/kg, so the ratio is a convention rather than an exact constant, and a figure quoted in IU has to be converted before it can be compared with a label dose.