← All compounds · evidence tier first, by design

Evidence tier for each claimed use · ← established · unknown →
Use	E1	E2	E3	E4	E5	E6	E7	E8
E3 Growth hormone release			E3
E3 Acute ischaemic stroke (with epidermal growth factor)			E3

Class C · Gray market

GHRP-6

Synthetic hexapeptide His-D-Trp-Ala-Trp-D-Phe-Lys-NH2; contains D-amino acids and a C-terminal amide, so no standard one-letter sequence is given.

Non-standard residues or modifications: no plain one-letter sequence

Also: Growth hormone-releasing peptide-6, Growth hormone releasing hexapeptide · Codes: GHRP-6

A synthetic six-amino-acid peptide, one of the first growth hormone secretagogues, which acts on the ghrelin receptor to release growth hormone from the pituitary. It was studied widely in human endocrine physiology experiments in the 1990s but was never approved as a medicine in any jurisdiction checked. It is sold online as a research chemical with claims of raising growth hormone, appetite and muscle mass. A Cuban research centre has tested it with epidermal growth factor in acute stroke.

US C gray market
EU C gray market
UK ? not verified
CA C gray market
AU ? not verified
JP ? not verified
CN ? not verified

01Regulatory status, by jurisdiction

Standing notice. This compound is not approved as a medicine in any jurisdiction tracked here and has no active sponsor seeking approval. Material sold under this name, typically labelled “research chemical, not for human consumption”, is of unverified identity and purity and is not manufactured to pharmaceutical standards.

Jurisdiction	Status	Detail and primary source
US	Not approved	No FDA-approved application: openFDA Drugs@FDA returns no application with a GHRP active ingredient (query: products.active_ingredients.name:GHRP*; a query for "GROWTH HORMONE RELEASING PEPTIDE" also returned none). openFDA states its data are unvalidated. “No matches found!” openFDA Drugs@FDA API (FDA) · retrieved 2026-10-10
US	Not approved	Placed in Category 2 (significant safety risks) of FDA's 503B outsourcing-facility interim policy on 29 September 2023, and listed there. “FDA has identified limited safety-related information, but the available data reveal safety concerns including potential effect on cortisol and increase in blood glucose due to decreases in insulin sensitivity.” Certain Bulk Drug Substances for Use in Compounding that May Present Significant Safety Risks (content current as of 04/22/2026) · retrieved 2026-10-10
US	Not approved	For 503A pharmacy compounding, GHRP-6 is listed in Category 3 (nominated without adequate support) of FDA's bulk drug substances nomination list updated 14 May 2026; it is not on the 503A bulks list. “503A Category 3: Bulk Drug Substances Nominated Without Adequate Support” Bulk Drug Substances Nominated for Use in Compounding Under Section 503A of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (Updated May 14, 2026) · retrieved 2026-10-10
EU	Not approved	No product containing GHRP-6 or a growth hormone-releasing peptide appears in EMA's downloadable medicines dataset (generated 10 Oct 2026), which covers centrally authorised medicines, refusals and withdrawn applications. National authorisations were not checked individually. “This includes information on marketing authorisations of centrally authorised medicines and post-authorisation procedures.” Download medicine data \| European Medicines Agency (EMA) · retrieved 2026-10-10
CA	Not approved	Queries of Health Canada's Drug Product Database API for the active ingredients GHRP and growth hormone releasing peptide returned no products on the retrieval date. “Search by drug identification number” Drug Product Database online query · retrieved 2026-10-10
UK AU JP CN	Not yet verified from a primary source. No status is shown rather than an unsourced one.

Sport (WADA): Prohibited · class S2.2.4. Named under S2.2.4 growth hormone releasing factors, prohibited at all times. “GH-releasing peptides (GHRPs) [e.g. alexamorelin, examorelin (hexarelin), GHRP-1, GHRP-2 (pralmorelin), GHRP-3, GHRP-4, GHRP-5 and GHRP-6]” WADA source

02What the human evidence shows

Growth hormone release

n/cpublished human RCTs

n/cpublished human trials

0registered studies

0with posted results

n/c: not counted here; see the cited review.

Many small, short human pharmacology studies, several of them randomised placebo-controlled crossover designs in healthy volunteers or patients, show that intravenous GHRP-6 acutely raises blood growth hormone, an effect that is greater when combined with GHRH and partly depends on endogenous GHRH. It also raised ACTH and cortisol. These studies measured hormone levels over hours; none tested sustained IGF-I, body composition, strength or any clinical outcome. The number of such studies was not counted, so both counts are left blank.

[1] Acute growth hormone release in healthy men, synergistic with GHRH
[2] Maximal growth hormone response to GHRP-6 in humans required endogenous hypothalamic GHRH
[3] Overnight growth hormone, ACTH and cortisol rose and stage 2 sleep increased in healthy men compared with placebo

Registered-study counts: ClinicalTrials.gov intervention search “GHRP-6”, fetched 2026-10-10. Registered studies include trials of other uses; the gap between registered and reported is itself a finding.

Acute ischaemic stroke (with epidermal growth factor)

n/cpublished human RCTs

n/cpublished human trials

40registered studies

6with posted results

n/c: not counted here; see the cited review.

The COURAGE-2 phase III trial in Cuba randomised 188 patients with acute ischaemic stroke to intravenous epidermal growth factor plus GHRP-6 or standard care, open-label. It missed its primary endpoint: no difference in disability (modified Rankin Scale), Barthel index or survival in the whole population. Subgroup analyses suggested benefit in severe stroke, which is hypothesis-generating only. The trial tested a combination given in hospital, so it does not isolate GHRP-6 and does not bear on self-administered use.

[4] No difference in disability, Barthel index or survival with EGF plus GHRP-6 versus standard care in patients with acute ischaemic stroke; primary endpoint missed

Registered-study counts: ClinicalTrials.gov intervention search “growth hormone releasing peptide 6”, fetched 2026-10-10. Registered studies include trials of other uses; the gap between registered and reported is itself a finding.

03Safety signals

S3Limited human safety data

Acute rise in ACTH and cortisol [3]
In healthy men, repeated intravenous GHRP-6 raised overnight ACTH and cortisol compared with placebo.
Cortisol effects and reduced insulin sensitivity [5]
FDA's compounding safety summary states that the limited available data reveal concerns including effects on cortisol and increased blood glucose from decreased insulin sensitivity.
Serious adverse events in a stroke trial, not attributed to treatment [4]
In COURAGE-2, serious adverse events occurred in 30 of 95 patients given EGF plus GHRP-6 and 18 of 93 on standard care; investigators judged none treatment-related.

04What is unknown

No human study of muscle mass, strength or body composition with GHRP-6 was identified
No human data on repeated use over weeks or months outside hospital were identified; most human exposure is single sessions lasting hours
Whether the growth hormone response persists or attenuates with continued use was not established for GHRP-6 in the sources reviewed (it attenuated partly with the related peptide hexarelin)
Effects of repeated rises in cortisol and of reduced insulin sensitivity over time are unstudied
Australian status was not verified from the TGA register; GHRP-6 is named in Schedule 4 and Appendix D of the Poisons Standard (October 2026, F2026L01327), which controls supply but is not a product approval
Status in the UK, Japan and China was not verified from regulator sources for this record

05Product quality

No independent purity results have been published for this compound yet. The purity programme will publish full methods and vendor-named results, passes and failures, once its protocol has had legal review.

06Citations

Growth Hormone (GH)-Releasing Peptide Stimulates GH Release in Normal Men and Acts Synergistically with GH-Releasing Hormone (1990). doi:10.1210/jcem-70-4-975
Growth Hormone (GH)-Releasing Peptide-6 Requires Endogenous Hypothalamic GH-Releasing Hormone for Maximal GH Stimulation (1998). doi:10.1210/jcem.83.4.4711
Growth Hormone-Releasing Peptide-6 Stimulates Sleep, Growth Hormone, ACTH and Cortisol Release in Normal Man (1995). doi:10.1159/000126883
Phase III Open-Label, Randomized Clinical Trial of Epidermal Growth Factor and Growth Hormone Releasing Hexapeptide in Acute Ischemic Stroke (2026). doi:10.1016/j.jocn.2026.112195
Certain Bulk Drug Substances for Use in Compounding that May Present Significant Safety Risks. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/certain-bulk-drug-substances-use-compounding-may-present-significant-safety-risks

Every DOI is resolved against Crossref and every NCT number against ClinicalTrials.gov, title for title, before publication. Regulatory sources are cited inline above with a verbatim quote and retrieval date.

07Mechanism

GHRP-6 is an agonist of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (the ghrelin receptor); in human studies it acutely increased growth hormone secretion and also raised ACTH and cortisol.

Mechanism is placed last on purpose: a plausible mechanism is not evidence that a compound works in people.

Reviewed by OSMF research team (AI-assisted, source-verified) on 2026-10-10. Found an error? It goes in the corrections log: report it.