GHRP-6 analog that releases more GH than GHRP-6 or GHRH in humans and acts directly on heart muscle. Never approved anywhere.
Also called Examorelin, His-D-2-methyl-Trp-Ala-Trp-D-Phe-Lys-NH2
Hexarelin is GHRP-6 with one change: a methyl group added to the tryptophan in position two. That makes it more stable, and in human studies it released more GH than GHRP-6 or GHRH. In healthy young adults, 1 microgram/kg IV released about twice as much GH as the same dose of GHRH, and the response was very repeatable. It works by injection, nasal spray and, weakly, by mouth.
The GH response fades with repeated use. When 12 healthy older adults injected it twice a day, their GH response fell by roughly half over 16 weeks, then came back after a 4-week break. Over those 16 weeks of 1.5 micrograms/kg twice a day, IGF-1, lean mass, fat mass and bone density did not change. Children given nasal hexarelin for 6 to 10 months grew faster even though their GH response was partly blunted, but those studies had no placebo group. Hexarelin also raises cortisol, ACTH and prolactin, and given at night it reduced deep sleep.
Hexarelin stands out for its heart effects. A single IV dose raised the heart's pumping fraction within minutes in healthy men, in GH-deficient adults who made almost no GH in response, and in patients during bypass surgery. GH injections did not do this, so the effect does not come from GH. Rat studies point to the CD36 receptor in heart tissue as one route, but the human mechanism is not proven. These were one-dose studies; no trial has tested whether repeated hexarelin helps heart failure. It was never approved anywhere and is banned in sport.
What it binds to, and what happens inside the body after that, step by step.
Hexarelin activates the ghrelin receptor (GHS-R1a) in the pituitary and hypothalamus, causing a large, short GH pulse plus smaller rises in ACTH, cortisol and prolactin. Separately, it binds CD36, a scavenger receptor on heart muscle and vessel cells. The CD36 route is thought to explain the GH-independent increase in heart contraction seen in humans and the heart-protection effects seen in rodents.
Human results and animal results are kept apart below. A result in rats tells you a mechanism is plausible. It does not tell you what happens in a person.
Human studies are small and mostly short: they show hexarelin causes a strong GH pulse by several routes, that the response partly fades with continued use, and that a single IV dose acutely improves heart pumping independent of GH. Growth in short children improved in uncontrolled studies. In 12 older adults, 16 weeks of twice-daily injections did not change IGF-1, lean mass, fat mass or bone density. There are no randomized trials of hexarelin for muscle, fat loss, healing or heart failure outcomes; the heart-protection and anti-fibrosis findings beyond single doses are animal data.
12 healthy young volunteers, saline and GHRH comparisons
1 microgram/kg IV released about twice the GH of the same dose of GHRH; estimated biological bioavailability was 77 percent subcutaneous, 4.8 percent intranasal and 0.3 percent oral.
Read the study12 healthy elderly adults, 1.5 micrograms/kg subcutaneous twice daily for 16 weeks
GH response (AUC) fell from 19.1 to 10.5 micrograms/L/hour by week 16 and returned to baseline 4 weeks after stopping; IGF-1, lean body mass, fat mass and bone density did not change.
Read the study8 prepubertal short children aged 4 to 11.6, up to 8 months
IGF-1 rose from 10.4 to 14.1 nmol/L and growth velocity from 5.3 to 8.3 cm/year, with no placebo group.
Read the studyPatients with coronary artery disease under anesthesia, compared with GHRH, recombinant GH and placebo groups
Hexarelin raised ejection fraction, cardiac index and cardiac output within 10 minutes for up to 90 minutes; GH, GHRH and placebo had no effect.
Read the study7 men with severe GH deficiency and 9 healthy men
Hexarelin raised ejection fraction in both groups even though GH-deficient patients made almost no GH (peak 1.9 vs 45.7 micrograms/L).
Read the study7 healthy young volunteers, 4 x 50 micrograms IV at night vs placebo
Deep (stage 4) sleep and EEG delta power fell, while GH, prolactin, ACTH and cortisol rose.
Read the studyRat cardiac membranes, perfused rat and CD36-null mouse hearts
Hexarelin's heart binding protein was identified as CD36; its coronary vasoconstrictor effect disappeared in hearts lacking CD36.
Read the studyThese are questions the published research has not answered.
No product containing Hexarelin is approved as a medicine by the FDA.
Hexarelin reached human trials in Europe in the 1990s but was never filed for approval. It circulates only as a research chemical. WADA lists examorelin (hexarelin) by name under S2.2.4, prohibited at all times.
No human half-life has been published for Hexarelin, so we do not draw a clearance curve. Half-lives quoted online for it are usually estimates from animal data.
This table records the doses that trials and approved labels used, with the source for each row. It is a record of research, not a recommendation, and it is open to free members.
Which symptoms are expected and which mean stop and get help: side effects and red flags.
Tap a claim to see what the studies found.
Human studies found hexarelin released more GH than GHRH and GHRP-6, with a near-maximal response at 2 micrograms/kg IV. That does not establish it as stronger than every GHRP, including GHRP-2.
The GH response fell by about half over 16 weeks of twice-daily use, but it did not disappear, and it recovered within 4 weeks of stopping. Children still grew faster despite partial blunting.
Single doses briefly improved heart pumping in people, and rodent studies show protection after heart injury. No human trial has tested repeated hexarelin for heart disease.
In the only published course of treatment in adults, 12 older adults injected 1.5 micrograms/kg twice daily for 16 weeks; lean body mass, fat mass and IGF-1 did not change. Strength was not measured, and no study has tested it in younger adults who train.
In the one sleep-lab study it reduced deep sleep and raised night-time cortisol.
These pairings come up often. Almost none have been tested together in a trial, and the evidence note on each says so plainly.
Combining a ghrelin-receptor agonist with GHRH signaling gives larger GH pulses than either alone.
EvidenceSynergy between GHRPs and GHRH is shown for acute GH release in humans. No study has tested hexarelin with CJC-1295, and none has measured outcomes beyond hormone levels.
No published stability data for research-grade hexarelin. Lyophilized peptides of this kind are generally kept sealed, dry, cold and away from light.
No published in-use stability data for hexarelin solutions. Reconstituted peptides are generally refrigerated and used within a short window; sterility depends on the product and technique.
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