Ipamorelin
Ipamorelin is a synthetic five-amino-acid ghrelin-receptor agonist studied for selective growth-hormone release, with almost all of its published evidence coming from animal pharmacology.
Regulatory status: Not approved by the FDA for any human use. It is sold only as a research chemical, and the published human record amounts to a single early-phase pharmacology study.
Default vial
5 mg
Default mix
2 mL
Reported range
200–300 mcg
Draw (U-100)
10 u
Commonly stacked with CJC-1295 (no DAC). Take fasted; avoid food 2h before / 30 min after.
What it is
- A pentapeptide, among the smallest GH secretagogues studied, introduced in its original paper as 'the first selective growth hormone secretagogue'.
- A ghrelin-receptor (GHS-R1a) agonist — mechanistically distinct from GHRH analogues such as sermorelin and tesamorelin.
- The one identified human study modelled short-lived pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in healthy volunteers.
- Studied by injection; no human oral efficacy data were located.
How it is described to act
- 1
Administered by injection in the human pharmacokinetic study identified.
- 2
Presumed to distribute systemically to the pituitary and hypothalamus based on its described mechanism.
- 3
Proposed to act as a selective agonist at the ghrelin receptor on pituitary somatotrophs.
- 4
Reported to produce a dose-dependent, short-lived GH pulse; no long-term IGF-1 or clinical-outcome data were located.
What the research has looked at
Original pharmacological characterisation
- Raun et al. (Eur J Endocrinol, 1998) reported ipamorelin to be a highly selective GH secretagogue with minimal effects on cortisol, prolactin and ACTH in the systems tested. These were animal and in-vitro systems.
Human pharmacokinetics
- Gobburu et al. (Pharm Res, 1999) modelled the pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationship of ipamorelin-induced GH release in healthy volunteers. This appears to be the only verifiable ipamorelin-specific human dataset.
Strength of evidence: Preclinical evidence only
One small human pharmacokinetic study exists; everything else is animal or in-vitro pharmacology, so human efficacy and safety are not established.
What is published comes from cell and animal studies. Findings in those models frequently do not carry over to people.
Reported cautions and unknowns
- The selectivity reported in the original pharmacology work — little effect on cortisol, aldosterone or prolactin — comes from animal and in-vitro systems, not from human safety studies.
- No robust human adverse-event dataset was located; long-term human safety is essentially unstudied.
References
Handling this vial
- Lyophilized vials are generally stored at 2–8 °C and kept out of light; once reconstituted with bacteriostatic water they are refrigerated and commonly discarded after 28 days.
- Mix by aiming water down the vial wall and rolling gently — do not shake — and never re-freeze a reconstituted vial.
- Pep-Tidy cannot verify what is in your vial. Ask your supplier for a current Certificate of Analysis (HPLC/MS).
Ipamorelin questions people ask
How do you reconstitute Ipamorelin?
A common starting point for a 5 mg vial of Ipamorelin is 2 mL of bacteriostatic water, which gives 2.5 mg per mL. Aim the water down the inside wall of the vial, let it dissolve on its own, and roll gently instead of shaking. Pep-Tidy's reconstitution calculator will recalculate the numbers for any other vial size or water volume you use.
How many units of Ipamorelin is one dose?
At 2.5 mg per mL, that works out to about 10 units on a U-100 insulin syringe for a 250 mcg dose. Change the vial size, water volume, or target dose in the calculator and the syringe reading updates with it. This is arithmetic, not a dosing recommendation.
What dosing schedule is reported for Ipamorelin?
Published and community sources describe 200–300 mcg, subcutaneous, every day, typically run 8 weeks on and 4 weeks off. These figures describe what has been reported, not what anyone should take — talk to a licensed clinician first.
How should Ipamorelin be stored?
Lyophilized Ipamorelin vials are generally kept at 2–8 °C and out of light. Once reconstituted with bacteriostatic water they are refrigerated and commonly discarded after about 28 days. Never re-freeze a reconstituted vial and never shake it.
Read this before you act on anything above
Everything on this page is a summary of what other people have published — it is not medical advice, not a recommendation, and not a dosing instruction. Reported dose ranges describe what appears in the literature or in community protocols, not what anyone should take. Talk to a licensed clinician before using any peptide.