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Ingredients

GHRP-6

Growth hormone-releasing peptide-6 · Growth hormone releasing peptide-6 · Growth hormone-releasing hexapeptide

Snapshot

IndicationsContraindications
  • Adrenal insufficiency testing1
  • GH secretion testing2–5
  • Acute ischemic stroke (IV, with EGF)6, 7
  • Tested athletes8
  • Compounded preparations8

Growth hormone-releasing peptide-6 (GHRP-6) is a synthetic hexapeptide that stimulates growth hormone (GH) secretion. The United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lists it among compounding substances that may present significant safety risks8, and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) prohibits it at all times8. Its uses follow from that GH-releasing action and its activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis: as a stimulation test in endocrine evaluation, and in trials combined with epidermal growth factor (EGF) in acute ischemic stroke.

As an adrenal insufficiency test, it activated the HPA axis without detectable side effects but had limited accuracy compared with the insulin tolerance test1. In stroke, a 2024 randomized early-phase trial found intravenous GHRP-6 plus EGF safe, with favorable neurological and functional outcomes versus standard care6. A 2026 open-label randomized late-phase trial missed its primary endpoint but found lower disability and mortality in a severe-stroke subgroup7. GHRP-6 is an unapproved new drug promoted in the US.

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

In the full monograph

42 sources, 32 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. 1Diagnosis of adrenal insufficiency using the GHRP-6 Test: comparison with the insulin tolerance test in patients with hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal disease.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govAlaioubi, Mann, Petersenn · Hormone and metabolic research = Hormon- und Stoffwechselforschung = Hormones et metabolisme · 2010 · Pubmed
  2. 2GH-releasing hormone and GH-releasing peptide-6 for diagnostic testing in GH-deficient adults.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govPopovic, Leal, Micic et al. · Lancet (London, England) · 2000 · Pubmed
  3. 3Comparison between insulin tolerance test, growth hormone (GH)-releasing hormone (GHRH), GHRH plus acipimox and GHRH plus GH-releasing peptide-6 for the diagnosis of adult GH deficiency in normal subjects, obese and hypopituitary patients.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govCordido, Alvarez-Castro, Isidro et al. · European journal of endocrinology · 2003 · Pubmed
  4. 4Growth hormone (GH) responses to the combined administration of GH-releasing hormone plus GH-releasing peptide 6 in adults with GH deficiency.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govLeal-Cerro, Garcia, Astorga et al. · European journal of endocrinology · 1995 · Pubmed
  5. 5Absence of growth hormone (GH) secretion after the administration of either GH-releasing hormone (GHRH), GH-releasing peptide (GHRP-6), or GHRH plus GHRP-6 in children with neonatal pituitary stalk transection.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govPombo, Barreiro, Peñalva et al. · The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 1995 · Pubmed
  6. 6Combination therapy of Epidermal Growth Factor and Growth Hormone-Releasing Hexapeptide in acute ischemic stroke: a phase I/II non-blinded, randomized clinical trial.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govHernández-Bernal, Estenoz-García, Gutiérrez-Ronquillo et al. · Frontiers in neurology · 2024 · Pubmed
  7. 7Phase III Open-Label, Randomized Clinical Trial of Epidermal Growth Factor and Growth Hormone Releasing Hexapeptide in Acute Ischemic Stroke.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govHernández-Bernal, Subirós-Martínez, Gutiérrez-Ronquillo et al. · Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia · 2026 · Pubmed
  8. 8US 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