GHRP-6

The Performance Enhancer

Enhance Athletic Performance: Improve Endurance and Strength with GHRP-6

GHRP-6 or Growth Hormone Releasing Peptide-6, is a synthetic peptide that functions as a secretagogue, which means it stimulates the secretion of growth hormone. This peptide consists of a chain of six amino acids and works by mimicking the action of ghrelin, a hormone that regulates appetite and the distribution and rate of use of energy.

The primary function of GHRP-6 is to boost the natural production of growth hormone in the body, leading to potential benefits such as increased muscle mass, enhanced tissue repair, and improved metabolism. It binds to specific receptors on cells in the pituitary gland, which triggers the release of growth hormone.

Potential Benefits Under Research

• Increased Muscle Mass: The peptide may help in building lean muscle due to its capacity to stimulate growth hormone release.
• Enhanced Tissue Repair: It could improve healing after injuries by promoting growth hormone, which is crucial for recovery and regeneration.
• Improved Metabolism: GHRP-6 may boost metabolic rate, aiding in fat loss and better energy utilization through increased growth hormone levels.
• Anti-aging Effects: Benefits might extend to improved skin elasticity, bone density, and overall tissue health, which are key in aging healthily.
• Improved Sleep Quality: The peptide might enhance sleep patterns by influencing growth hormone levels.
• Stimulating Appetite: Acting as a ghrelin mimetic, GHRP-6 could increase appetite, helpful in conditions requiring higher caloric intake.
• Memory Enhancement: Research explores its potential to improve cognitive functions, including memory, by influencing growth hormone levels.
• Protection of Brain Tissues: Studies are looking at its neuroprotective effects that might help in maintaining or improving brain tissue health.
• Potential Benefits for Parkinson’s Disease: There is interest in its use for protecting neurons, potentially offering new avenues for managing symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
• Cardiac Health Improvement: GHRP-6 might contribute to better heart function and recovery in cardiac health issues.
• Enhanced Mood and Libido: The increase in growth hormone could positively affect mood and sexual well-being.

Dosing Protocol for Research Purposes

The specific dosage and administration protocols for GHRP-6 in research can vary based on the experimental design, species being studied, and the objectives of the research. General guidelines include:

• Dosage: Typical research dosages range from 1 to 2 micrograms per kilogram of body weight in animals, administered via intravenous or subcutaneous injections. For humans, dosages are adjusted based on body weight and clinical considerations.
• Administration: GHRP-6 is usually administered via subcutaneous injection, preferably on an empty stomach to maximize GH release. Injection sites are rotated to prevent tissue irritation.
• Frequency: Administration frequency varies but is often multiple times daily to mimic the pulsatile release of endogenous growth hormone.

Overview

GHRP-6 is an effective stimulator of natural Growth Hormone Release from the anterior pituitary. GHRP- 6 is also a ghrelin/growth hormone receptor agonist and one of a handful of ghrelin analogues developed in the last several decades. It has been found to have positive effects on heart muscle cells, memory formation, scar formation, sex motivation, and the neurons involved in Parkinson’s disease. GHRP-6 is orally and sublingually active and moderately to highly selective.

Structure

Sequence: His-D-Trp-Ala-Trp-D-Phe-Lys Molecular Formula: C46Hs6N1206
Molecular Weight: 873.032 g/mol
PubChem CID: 9919153
CAS Number: 87616-84-0

GHRP-6 Effects

1. Improves Memory

The role of physical activity in learning and memory formation has been under active investigation for some time now. Though the exact mechanism has remained elusive, there has always been reason to believe that physical activity improves cognition and learning, particularly when exercise is done immediately following a learning task.

Originally, the benefit of exercise on cognition was chalked up to improved blood flow and vague references to growth hormone (GH). Research in rodents has helped to clarify why GH may be an important factor in memory formation by revealing that GHRP-6 can help to solidify newly formed memories and convert short-term memories into long-term storage. There is also strong evidence to support a role for ghrelin/GHRP-6 in spatial learning tasks. This suggests that exercise ­induced cognitive benefits may be mediated through growth hormone secretagogues like ghrelin and that the GH effect may be indirect and, perhaps, secondary to these peptides.

2. Protects Brain Tissue

Animal models of stroke are used to investigate the ability of GHRP-6 to protect neurons and other cells in the central nervous system from the effects of poor blood supply. It turns out that GHRP-6 not only protects brain tissue during acute stroke, but can actually rescue memory deficits following a stroke if administration of the peptide is timely. It seems that ghrelin and its analogues inhibit apoptosis
(programmed cell death) and reduces inflammation in the brain, protecting neurons from both their genetic programming and the surrounding environment following stroke.

3. Protects Parkinson’s Neurons

Our understanding of the ability of GHRP-6 to protect brain tissue was brought into sharper focus by a 2018 study revealing that ghrelin receptors are found in the substantia nigra, a part of the brain affected by Parkinson’s disease. Patients with known genetic links to Parkinson’s disease show a decrease in the expression of ghrelin receptors on neurons in the substantia nigra. Additionally, rats with this same defect show Parkinson’s symptoms when an antagonist is injected. It stands to reason that agonists like GHRP-6 may therefore be useful in the setting of Parkinson’s. Scientists speculate that the peptide may, by binding to the diminished receptors, reduce apoptosis in neurons of the substantia nigra and slow or even prevent the onset of Parkinson’s.

4. Improves Skin Appearance and Reduces Scarring

GHRP-6 improves the survival of multiple types of cells by reducing programmed cell death. The peptide also interacts with the CD36 receptor, which is known to promote blood vessel growth, particularly in wounds. Research in rats indicates that these properties make GHRP-6 highly useful in wound healing where it increases the rate of wound closure, improves the formation of extracellular matrix proteins like collagen, and interferes with the normal process of scar formation to help organize overall structure at the site of the wound and reduce the appearance of scar tissue.

The peptide has also been found to prevent the development of hypertrophic scars. Hypertrophic scars, like keloids, are the result of improper extracellular matrix protein depositions. GHRP-6 prevents this process from occurring, which is a huge boon for people who suffer from this aberrant healing process and thus often put off surgery and other medical procedures as much as possible to avoid the painful scars that develop and cause substantial aesthetic alteration.

5. Reduces Heart Problems

Research in porcine models of heart attack shows that GHRP-6 can prevent oxidant cytotoxicity, which is to say that peptide protects heart cells from damage by free radicals. There is hope that this finding will lead to the development of drugs that can be administered following a heart attack to protect cells that are vulnerable, but still viable. Such a drug could reduce death and improve long­ term outcome following a heart attack.

6. Alters Sex Motivation and Mood

Research in male rats indicates that ghrelin receptors in the central nervous system affect sexual behavior and motivation. Elevated levels of ghrelin, for instance, can boost sexual motivation. Research with GHRP-6 and a modified GHRP-6 designed to antagonize the ghrelin receptor has indicated that ghrelin receptors in specific brain regions help to modulate sex behavior and reward­ seeking-behavior. These findings are not only applicable to sex and conditions like hypoactive sexual desire disorder, but may also be applicable to hunger and other types of motivation.

There is also evidence to suggest that ghrelin may impact mood as part of its effect on motivation. Research in mice indicates that GHRP-6 and other ghrelin receptor agonists can decrease depression and improve function in parts of the brain associated with mood, particularly in the setting of stress. GHRP-6 could form the basis for research into potential novel treatments for stress, anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders.

GHRP-6 exhibits minimal to moderate side effects, low oral and excellent subcutaneous bioavailability in mice. Per kg dosage in mice does not scale to humans. 

 Article Author

The above literature was researched, edited and organized by Dr. Logan, M.D. Dr. Logan holds a doctorate degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and a B.S. in molecular biology.

Scientific Journal Author

Marta Korbonits graduated in Medicine in Budapest and undertook her early clinical training at the Internal Medicine Department of the Postgraduate Medical School, Budapest. She joined the Department of Endocrinology at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital under the mentorship of Professors Ashley Grossman and Michael Besser. Her MD and later PhD studies contributed to the understanding of the effects of growth hormone secretagogues on hypothalamic hormone release and the nature and causes of pituitary tumorigenesis. She was awarded an MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship and commenced studies that produced novel insights into ghrelin physiology and genetics. Her findings related to the regulation of the metabolic enzyme AMPK by ghrelin, cannabinoid and glucocorticoid opened a new aspect of hormonal regulation of metabolism. In 2008, Marta Korbonits was promoted to Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism and since 2012, has led the Centre of Endocrinology at Barts and the London School of Medicine. In 2016, Marta Korbonits was appointed  Deputy Head of the William Harvey Research Institute. Professor Korbonits continues to integrate human studies alongside laboratory-based research and has pioneered several projects in translational medicine.

Marta Korbonits is being referenced as one of the leading scientists involved in the research and development of GHRP-6. In no way is this
doctor/scientist endorsing or advocating the purchase, sale, or use of this product for any reason. There is no affiliation or relationship, implied or otherwise, between Guide to Peptide and this doctor. The purpose of citing the doctor is to acknowledge, recognize, and credit the exhaustive research and development efforts conducted by the scientists studying this peptide. Marta Korbonits is listed in [12] under the referenced citations.

Resourced Citations

1. C.-C. Huang, D. Chou, C.-M. Yeh, and K.-S. Hsu, “Acute food deprivation enhances fear extinction but inhibits long-term depression in the lateral amygdala via ghrelin signaling,” Neuropharmacology, vol. 101, pp. 36-45, Feb. 2016.
2. S. Beheshti and S. Shahrokhi, “Blocking the ghrelin receptor type la in the rat brain impairs memory encoding,” Neuropeptides, vol. 52, pp. 97-102, Aug. 2015.
3. K. Toth, K. Laszlo, and L. Lenard, “Role of intraamygdaloid acylated-ghrelin in spatial learning,” Brain Res. Bull., vol. 81, no. 1, pp. 33-37, Jan. 2010.
4. N. Subiros et al., “Assessment of dose-effect and therapeutic time window in preclinical studies of rhEGF and GHRP-6 co-administration for stroke therapy,” Neural. Res., vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 187-195, Mar. 2016.
5. S. J. Spencer, A A Miller, and Z. B. Andrews, “The Role of Ghrelin in Neuroprotection after lschemic Brain Injury,” Brain Sci., vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 344-359, Mar. 2013.
6. Y. Suda et al., “Down-regulation of ghrelin receptors on dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra contributes to Parkinson’s disease-like motor dysfunction,” Mol. Brain, vol. 11, no. 1, p. 6, 20 2018.
7. Y. Mendoza Marf et al., “Growth Hormone­-Releasing Peptide 6 Enhances the Healing Process and Improves the Esthetic Outcome of the Wounds,” Plastic Surgery International, 2016. [Online]. Available:
   https://www.hindawi.com/journals/psi/2016/43 61702/. [Accessed: 23-May-2019].
8. M. Fernandez-Mayola et al., “Growth hormone-releasing peptide 6 prevents cutaneous hypertrophic scarring: early mechanistic data from a proteome study,” Int. Wound J., vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 538-546, Aug. 2018.
9. J. Berlanga et al., “Growth-hormone-releasing peptide 6 (GHRP6) prevents oxidant cytotoxicity and reduces myocardial necrosis in a model of acute myocardial infarction,” Clin. Sci. Land. Engl. 1979, vol. 112, no. 4, pp. 241-250, Feb.2007.
10. L. Hyland et al., “Central ghrelin receptor stimulation modulates sex motivation in male rats in a site dependent manner,” Harm. Behav., vol. 97, pp. 56-66, 2018.
11. H.-J. Huang et al., “The protective effects of Ghrelin/GHSR on hippocampal neurogenesis in CUMS mice,” Neuropharmacology, May 2019.
12. Korbonits, Marta, and Ashley B. Grossman. “Growth Hormone-Releasing Peptide and Its Analogues.” Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism, vol. 6, no. 2, Mar. 1995, pp. 43- 49