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Ingredients

GHRP-2

Pralmorelin · Growth hormone-releasing peptide-2 · Growth hormone releasing peptide-2 · KP-102

Snapshot

IndicationsContraindications
  • Growth hormone reserve testing1
  • Short stature in children2
  • Adrenocortical insufficiency screening3
  • Pituitary reserve in the elderly4
  • Competitive athletes subject to testing5
  • Compounded injectable or nasal use5

Growth hormone-releasing peptide-2 (GHRP-2) is a synthetic six amino acid peptide that stimulates pituitary growth hormone (GH) release through the ghrelin receptor pathway. The United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lists it among compounding substances that may present significant safety risks for injectable and nasal routes5, and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) prohibits it at all times5. Clinically it has been used as a provocative test of pituitary GH reserve in children and elderly patients, and as an investigational GH secretagogue in children with short stature.

In children, GH responses to GHRP-2 were similar to those to GH-releasing hormone and were reliable predictors of pituitary reserve. A 2010 case report identified GHRP-2 in tablets sold as an over-the-counter nutritional supplement; see Form comparison.

The FDA's stated concern is immunogenicity from aggregation and peptide-related impurities, and it cites reports of serious adverse events, including increased insulin requirement and pancreatitis, with causality not established6. In a separate study, GHRP-2 administration masked the isoform ratio used to detect recombinant GH doping7.

Last updated October 17, 2026. Read how we make monographs.

In the full monograph

36 sources, 26 studies

  • When to useThe situations practitioners use it for, each with the reason and the study behind it.
  • SafetyWho should avoid it, who needs extra care, and the side effects reported in studies.
  • InteractionsThe medicines and supplements it interacts with, the effect of each, and what labeling says to watch.
  • Protocol notesThe doses used in studies, how and when they were taken, and how the forms on the market compare.
  • How it worksWhat it is and how it works in the body, in plain terms.
  • Published studiesThe studies behind each use, popular claims checked against them, and trials still under way.
  • Word of mouthWhat patients and practitioners report online, kept separate from the clinical evidence.
  • Clinical perspectiveA closing read of where the evidence is solid, where it is thin, and what has not been studied.
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Sources

  1. 1Diagnostic studies with intravenous and intranasal growth hormone-releasing peptide-2 in children of short stature.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govPihoker, Middleton, Reynolds et al. · The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 1995 · Pubmed
  2. 2Treatment effects of intranasal growth hormone releasing peptide-2 in children with short stature.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govPihoker, Badger, Reynolds et al. · The Journal of endocrinology · 1997 · Pubmed
  3. 3Differentiating hypothalamic from pituitary adrenal insufficiency: underlying causes and diagnostic utility of the corticotropin-releasing hormone and growth hormone-releasing peptide-2 stimulation tests.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govOkada, Nakagawa, Murahashi et al. · Endocrine journal · 2026 · Pubmed
  4. 4Assessment of anterior pituitary reserve capacity based on growth hormone response to growth hormone-releasing peptide-2 test in the elderly.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govTeramoto, Tahara, Hattori et al. · Growth hormone & IGF research : official journal of the Growth Hormone Research Society and the International IGF Research Society · 2023 · Pubmed
  5. 5US statusfda.govWhat the FDA (its lists of substances nominated for pharmacy compounding, and Drugs@FDA) and the World Anti-Doping Agency's Prohibited List say about this ingredient, in their own words. A legal status, not evidence of benefit or harm
  6. 6FDA actionsfda.govFDA warning letters, import alerts and Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee documents that name this ingredient, in the FDA's words. Findings about products sold and a regulator's review, not evidence of harm from the ingredient itself
  7. 7Influence of intravenous administration of growth hormone releasing peptide-2 (GHRP-2) on detection of growth hormone doping: growth hormone isoform profiles in Japanese male subjects.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govOkano, Nishitani, Sato et al. · Drug testing and analysis · 2010 · Pubmed