Compound · hexarelin
T2Peptide

Hexarelin

Synthetic hexapeptide growth hormone secretagogue with high potency at GHS-R1a. Produces strong GH pulse comparable to GHRP-2 but desensitizes the receptor within 4-8 weeks of continuous use. Notable cardiac protective effects independent of GH — direct binding to cardiac CD36 receptors.

Half-life
70 minutes
Bioavailability
Systemic via subcutaneous injection
Route
subcutaneous
Evidence tier
T2 — Single-RCT or mechanistic
Optimization pillars
recovery · muscle
References
2 peer-reviewed
Dose ranges

Three tiers ordered by aggressiveness. Tier chips on every OPTIMIZE intervention let you filter the catalog by your evidence tolerance.

conservative
100 mcg/injection 1-2x/day
GH pulse or cardiac support
moderate
100–200 mcg/injection 2x/day
Short-term GH protocol
aggressive
200–300 mcg/injection 2-3x/day
Pulse protocol with cycling
Monitoring
  • igf-1
  • fasting-glucose
  • cortisol
  • prolactin
Contraindications
  • active-cancer
  • pituitary-tumor
References
  • PMID:10721907Hexarelin, a synthetic growth hormone secretagogue: cardioprotective effectsPharmacol Res, 2000
  • PMID:10372583Desensitization and recovery of growth hormone response to hexarelinGrowth Horm IGF Res, 1999
Notes

Hexarelin has the most interesting secondary pharmacology of any GH secretagogue. The cardiac CD36 binding is completely independent of growth hormone — it protects cardiomyocytes directly. But the receptor desensitization is the dealbreaker for long-term use. After 4-8 weeks, the GH response fades. You must cycle off. This makes hexarelin a burst tool, not a foundation compound. The cardiac data is why some researchers keep studying it despite the desensitization ceiling.

This is not medical advice

Discuss with a licensed clinician before starting, stopping, or changing any compound. This page documents what the research literature describes — it is not a prescription.

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