Hexarelin
Hexarelin is a synthetic hexapeptide growth hormone secretagogue related to GHRP-6 that potently stimulates GH release via the ghrelin receptor and has additionally shown GH-independent cardioprotective effects in animal studies through a distinct CD36 receptor pathway.
This page is a research-orientation summary, not a dosing guide. For anything beyond general background, read the primary literature or talk to a qualified clinician — specifics like amount, frequency, or administration aren't something we publish here.
What it does & how it works
Hexarelin activates the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R1a) on pituitary somatotrophs and hypothalamic neurons via the same pathway used by ghrelin, stimulating calcium-dependent GH secretion, and is generally reported as one of the most potent GH-releasing peptides in this class in head-to-head animal comparisons. Separately from GH release, hexarelin and related peptides also bind CD36 (a scavenger receptor expressed in cardiac tissue and macrophages), a distinct, non-GHS-R1a mechanism that has been linked in rodent studies to direct cardioprotective and anti-hypertrophic cellular signaling independent of growth hormone.
Typical results seen in research
In animal dose-response and human studies, hexarelin produced potent, reproducible increases in GH secretion. Separately, a substantial body of rodent research found that hexarelin protects against cardiac ischemia-reperfusion injury, attenuates cardiac hypertrophy, and preserves cardiac function after experimental myocardial infarction through GH-independent mechanisms (including in animals with GH deficiency), though this cardioprotective evidence is derived from animal models and has not been established in controlled human cardiovascular trials.
How it’s commonly used
Hexarelin is administered by subcutaneous or intranasal injection/spray in research settings for growth hormone axis studies. It is used exclusively as an investigational compound and has no approved human therapeutic indication for either GH release or cardiovascular protection.
- Life Sciences · 1994 GH-releasing activity of Hexarelin, a new growth hormone releasing peptide, in infant and adult rats
- European Journal of Endocrinology · 1994 Growth hormone-releasing activity of hexarelin in humans. A dose-response study
- Endocrinology · 1999 Growth hormone-independent cardioprotective effects of hexarelin in the rat
- Circulation Research · 2002 CD36 mediates the cardiovascular action of growth hormone-releasing peptides in the heart
Curated from published literature for research orientation. Not an exhaustive review, and not a substitute for reading primary sources.