GH axis pharmacology
GH axis pharmacology: 6 articles from Peptides Facts. Evidence-led reference on research peptides.
MK-677: An Oral Secretagogue With Two-Year Trial Data
A non-peptide agonist at the ghrelin receptor with an unusual distinction: multi-year randomised human data. They show a hormone that rises reliably and functional endpoints that did not follow.
Hexarelin and Receptor Desensitisation
Hexarelin is the most potent of the classical growth hormone releasing peptides, and it is also the one that made the limits of sustained receptor agonism visible. Its second story — a binding site in cardiac tissue — turned out to be the more interesting one.
GHRP-2 and GHRP-6: Two Hexapeptides, Two Different Profiles
The growth hormone releasing peptides came out of work on enkephalin analogues and led researchers to a receptor nobody knew existed. GHRP-6 and GHRP-2 share that receptor and differ in what else they do.
Sermorelin and the Shortest Fragment of GHRH That Still Works
Growth hormone releasing hormone is forty-four residues long. Only the first twenty-nine are needed for full activity. That truncation experiment produced sermorelin, and it tells you something general about how peptide hormones carry their information.
Tesamorelin: A Stabilised GHRH Analogue and the Visceral Fat Endpoint
Tesamorelin is a growth hormone releasing hormone analogue carrying a single chemical modification that protects it from enzymatic cleavage. It is the one compound in this family with a substantial randomised trial record — in a specific patient population, on a specific endpoint.
Ipamorelin: Selective Ghrelin Receptor Agonism and the Cortisol Question
Ipamorelin is a pentapeptide agonist at the growth hormone secretagogue receptor. Its defining claim is selectivity — releasing growth hormone without the cortisol and prolactin rise seen with earlier secretagogues. Here is where that claim comes from and how far the evidence carries it.