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Hexarelin (Examorelin)
A synthetic hexapeptide growth-hormone secretagogue (a ghrelin-receptor / GHS-R1a agonist) that triggers a sharp pituitary GH pulse. Honest appraisal: real human studies confirm it acutely raises GH, but the GH response partially DESENSITIZES (attenuates) with continued dosing, it also raises cortisol and prolactin, and there are NO body-composition or clinical outcome trials. A grey-market, research-use-only injectable — not an approved drug or a regulated dietary supplement, and WADA-banned.
Research peptide — not a dietary supplement
Hexarelin is a research compound, not a regulated dietary supplement. It is typically administered by injection and sold “for research use only.” The evidence below is largely preclinical (animal and in-vitro) or early-stage, so no evidence score is assigned. This page is provided for transparency and education — it is not a recommendation to use. Consult a qualified healthcare provider, and be aware that purity, dosing, and legal status vary by jurisdiction.
What the evidence says
Hexarelin doesn't have enough studies with structured effect-size data yet to pool a verdict. Browse the studies below for individual findings.
Most evidence is from medium-quality randomised trials published 1994–2003 with a typical study size of 12 participants.
Based on 27 studies · 18 RCTs · 100 total participants
Confidence
Moderate confidenceBy outcome
Scores very low because the human evidence is short-term pharmacology only: it reliably raises GH acutely, but that response desensitizes with use and no trials show any body-composition, strength, or clinical outcome benefit.
26 randomised trials
85% were about Hexarelin in an audit of 26 of them
Every randomised or controlled trial of Hexarelin indexed in PubMed, not a hand-picked subset. Meta-analyses and systematic reviews are deliberately excluded from this count: most of them cover many compounds at once, so counting them would inflate it.
PubMed · as of Sep 2026
Hexarelin (examorelin) is a synthetic enkephalin-derived hexapeptide developed in the 1990s as a growth-hormone secretagogue (GHS).
It binds the GH-secretagogue receptor GHS-R1a — the same receptor as the natural hormone ghrelin — at the pituitary and hypothalamus, and acutely evokes a large, dose-related GH pulse in humans after intravenous, subcutaneous, intranasal or even oral dosing. Two things keep the honest evidence picture modest.
First, the GH response is not durable: controlled human studies show it partially DESENSITIZES (attenuates) with continued administration — twice-daily subcutaneous hexarelin in healthy elderly subjects roughly halved the GH area-under-curve over 16 weeks (the effect was partial and reversible after a washout), and chronic intranasal dosing in children blunted the GH response within a week.
Second, hexarelin is not GH-selective: it also stimulates ACTH/cortisol and prolactin secretion.
Separately from the GH axis, hexarelin has a distinct cardiovascular pharmacology — it binds myocardial receptors and the scavenger receptor CD36, produced a GH-independent positive inotropic effect (raised left-ventricular ejection fraction) in an acute human study, and protected against post-ischemic ventricular dysfunction in animal hearts.
Crucially, all of this is short-term mechanistic / pharmacological work. There are NO trials showing hexarelin improves body composition, strength, athletic performance, or any clinical cardiac outcome in people, and its long-term safety is unknown.
It is a grey-market 'research peptide' sold for injection outside any approved medical use, carries the usual unregulated-injectable sourcing risks, and is banned by WADA. The overall evidence is best treated as UNSCORED / emerging.
Binds the GH-secretagogue receptor GHS-R1a — the ghrelin receptor — at the pituitary and hypothalamus, partly by counteracting somatostatin tone, to evoke a sharp, dose-related GH pulse.
Binds specific myocardial receptors and the scavenger receptor CD36, the basis for GH-independent cardiac effects seen in preclinical models and one acute human study.
Not GH-selective — also stimulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (ACTH and cortisol) and prolactin, an off-target endocrine effect of the GHS class.
How Hexarelin works — from molecular targets to health outcomes. Click an edge to see supporting research.This visualization is in beta — pathways are being refined and expanded.
Avoid — not studied.
Avoid — GH/IGF-1 elevation is theoretically growth-promoting.
Prohibited — GH secretagogues are banned by WADA at all times.
Do not self-experiment; cardiovascular and glucose effects are real and unsupervised use is unsafe.
Hexarelin stimulates ACTH and cortisol; its endocrine effects interact with glucocorticoids and HPA-axis agents (e.g. blunted by dexamethasone, exaggerated in Cushing's).
GH elevation can oppose insulin action and raise glucose, theoretically working against glucose-lowering therapy.
Stacking with other GHS or exogenous GH compounds compounds GH/IGF-1 elevation and its associated risks; not studied.
Tip: Inherent to the GHS class; no validated mitigation — a reason not to use chronically
Tip: Off-target endocrine effect of the peptide
Tip: Partial and reversible after a washout; reflects receptor desensitization, not tolerance to a benefit
Tip: Inherent to grey-market injectables; sterility and purity are unverified
Tip: Class effect of GH elevation; not well characterized for hexarelin specifically
The current evidence for Hexarelin is insufficient to assign an evidence score, based on 27 indexed studies. A synthetic hexapeptide growth-hormone secretagogue (a ghrelin-receptor / GHS-R1a agonist) that triggers a sharp pituitary GH pulse. Honest appraisal: real human studies confirm it acutely raises GH, but the GH response partially DESENSITIZES (attenuates) with continued dosing, it also raises cortisol and prolactin, and there are NO body-composition or clinical outcome trials. A grey-market, research-use-only injectable — not an approved drug or a regulated dietary supplement, and WADA-banned. Representative study: PMID 10990150.
Dosing for Hexarelin: No established or approved human dose. Research studies used roughly 1-2 µg/kg IV acutely, or ~60 µg/kg intranasally / twice-daily subcutaneous injections in trials (no cited human trial states a usable adult dose, the stated doses are per kg of body weight). Grey-market use is unregulated and not endorsed.
Timing is flexible for Hexarelin — consistent daily use matters more than the time of day. Acute GH-stimulation studies dosed IV/SC without regard to meals.
No consumer dose of Hexarelin is endorsed, so there is no dose at which it can be called safe. Talk to a healthcare provider before taking it. Reported side effects include raised cortisol / ACTH, injection-site reactions / sourcing-related contamination risk, raised prolactin. How often they occur is not established for all of them. Use caution if any of these apply to you: Pregnancy and breastfeeding (not studied — avoid); Active or prior cancer (GH/IGF-1 elevation is theoretically growth-promoting); Competitive athletes subject to anti-doping testing (WADA-banned).
Mecasermin (IGF-1)
Too few graded studiesThe pharmaceutical-grade version of IGF-1 — an FDA/EMA-approved prescription injectable, but approved ONLY for a rare childhood growth disorder (severe primary IGF-1 deficiency / Laron syndrome), where it genuinely raises height velocity in clinical trials. It is the regulated counterpart to the grey-market igf-1-lr3 peptide bodybuilders inject, and shares the same core risks. Crucially, there is NO trial supporting its off-label use for muscle, performance, or anti-aging in healthy adults — and IGF-1's documented harms (hypoglycemia, intracranial hypertension, lymphoid/tonsillar hypertrophy, and a cancer concern because IGF-1 is mitogenic) are real. Not a dietary supplement, not a longevity drug.
Insulin (bodybuilding use)
Too few graded studiesInsulin is a life-saving prescription hormone for diabetes — and, used illicitly by bodybuilders as an off-label 'anabolic,' one of the most dangerous performance drugs in existence. The theory is nutrient partitioning: insulin drives glucose and amino acids into muscle and suppresses muscle-protein breakdown. But there is NO controlled evidence that insulin builds muscle or improves performance in healthy, non-diabetic athletes — and a non-diabetic who injects it risks profound, sometimes FATAL hypoglycemia (coma, seizures, brain injury, death), plus fat gain. This is a harm-reduction reference documenting a popular, deadly misuse, NOT a recommendation and NOT a dietary supplement.
ACE-031
Mostly mechanism / observationalAn investigational myostatin/activin 'trap' whose only human trial in patients was STOPPED for safety. ACE-031 is a fusion protein of the activin receptor type IIB (ActRIIB) extracellular domain and an IgG1-Fc, engineered by Acceleron Pharma to soak up myostatin and related ligands and thereby release the brake on muscle growth. It has real human data — a single-dose study in healthy postmenopausal women showed a genuine ~3% gain in lean mass — but its phase 2 trial in boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy was HALTED after the second dosing regimen because of bleeding-related safety signals (nosebleeds/epistaxis and telangiectasias, dilated surface blood vessels). It is NOT an approved drug, development was discontinued, and anything sold grey-market under this name is unregulated. It is described here to inform, not to recommend.
CJC-1295
Mostly mechanism / observationalA synthetic long-acting analog of growth-hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), promoted online to raise GH and IGF-1 for muscle, fat loss and 'anti-aging'. Honest appraisal: the only real human data are two small early-phase pharmacokinetic / safety studies from ~2006 that showed it raises GH and IGF-1 for days — they were never followed by efficacy trials in muscle, body composition or aging. There are NO human outcome RCTs. It is not a dietary supplement: it is sold 'for research use only', is injectable, and is banned by WADA. The original DAC version's clinical development was abandoned.
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Reviewed by Dr. Baher Al Hakim · Last reviewed June 2026 · evidence from 27 studies · how we score · editorial policy
This information is for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before starting, stopping, or changing any supplement or medication.
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