Ipamorelin Reconstitution Calculator

No. Ipamorelin is not FDA-approved or licensed for any indication and remains an investigational GH secretagogue sold through unregulated gray-market and compounding channels. Reviews conclude no adequately powered human trial establishes efficacy for the muscle-growth, recovery, or performance claims used to market it. The only Phase-2 RCT (IV infusion for postoperative ileus) showed tolerability but no significant efficacy benefit. All wellness use is off-label and outside clinical oversight.

Synthetic pentapeptide (Aib-His-D-2-Nal-D-Phe-Lys-NH2); a ghrelin-mimetic agonist at the growth hormone (GH) secretagogue receptor (GHSR-1a) that selectively stimulates pituitary GH release. Defining feature: unlike GHRP-2/GHRP-6, it did not elevate ACTH or cortisol in swine even at >200× the GH-releasing ED50, with no effect on FSH, LH, prolactin, or TSH. Human PK (IV): dose-proportional kinetics, half-life ~2 h, clearance 0.078 L/h/kg, Vss 0.22 L/kg; each dose produces one GH pulse peaking at ~0.67 h.

Human exposure benchmarks: the Phase-2 RCT used 0.03 mg/kg IV twice daily for up to 7 days (≈2.4 mg BID at 80 kg), well tolerated. PK/PD studies tested single 15-min IV infusions of 4.21–140.45 nmol/kg in healthy men. Community protocols use far lower subcutaneous doses: 100–300 mcg 1–3× daily (commonly 200 mcg fasted before bed), often stacked with ~100 mcg of a GHRH analog (community protocol). No dose is validated in humans for muscle gain, fat loss, or injury recovery.

Subcutaneous injection is the community standard (community protocol). Intranasal bioavailability is only ~20% in rats. Ipamorelin is not meaningfully orally active: oral peptidomimetics derived from it (e.g., NN703) had to be engineered to achieve ~30% oral bioavailability. Parenteral routes are the only efficient options; the clinical trial used IV.

Probably not, per animal pharmacology: no ACTH or cortisol response at >200× the GH ED50 in swine, and prolactin was unaffected. Human confirmation is lacking, and class-level reviews attribute prolactin/cortisol elevations, appetite changes, and dysglycemia to GH-axis secretagogues in self-administration settings. No human pregnancy or fertility data exist; use during pregnancy is not recommended (practitioner consensus). Long-term endocrine safety in humans is unstudied.

Unknown. The longest controlled human exposure was 7 days (IV). Community cycles run 8–12 weeks with ~4 weeks off, with some protocols using 5 days on/2 days off (community protocol). A biological rationale for cycling exists: chronic three-times-daily dosing in rats marginally blunted pituitary GH responsiveness to a subsequent challenge. No human data define a safe duration or whether cycling is necessary.

Different receptor targets: ipamorelin is a ghrelin-mimetic GHSR-1a agonist, while CJC-1295 is a GHRH analog (this complementary, additive mechanism underpins the common stacked protocol, community protocol). In a murine model of glucocorticoid-induced muscle loss, CJC-1295 + ipamorelin improved maximum tetanic tension (animal). Versus GHRP-2/GHRP-6: ipamorelin is less potent than GHRP-2 (swine ED50 0.6 vs 2.3 nmol/kg) but similar to or slightly more potent than GHRP-6 (swine ED50 2.3 vs 3.9 nmol/kg; rat ED50 80 vs 115 nmol/kg), and is uniquely GH-selective, sparing ACTH/cortisol (animal). No human comparative efficacy data exist.

Prohibited by WADA: growth hormone-releasing peptides and GH secretagogues, including ipamorelin, are on the Prohibited List, with urine screening validated at the 2 ng/mL minimum required performance level. Purchasing gray-market product adds real risk independent of sport rules: independent testing of consumer peptide samples found 41.6–71.1% failed basic quality benchmarks and 15% contained measurable endotoxin. Possession of unapproved injectables is jurisdiction-dependent; international travel with them carries legal risk (practitioner consensus).