Source comparison
Peptide Comparison: Potency, Duration, and Research Applications
Potency isn't a single number. It's the area under the curve (AUC) for serum GH over time. Sermorelin produces the highest peak GH within 30 minutes (2–10× baseline depending on dose and subject age), but clears within 90 minutes. Ipamorelin produces a lower p
This comparison does not assign a generated winner or score.
- Potency isn't a single number. It's the area under the curve (AUC) for serum GH over time. Sermorelin produces the highest peak GH within 30 minutes (2–10× baseline depending on dose and subject age), but clears within 90 minutes. Ipamorelin produces a lower peak (3–5× baseline) but sustains elevation for 2–3 hours. Hexarelin is the most potent ghrelin agonist in terms of peak amplitude. It can elevate GH by 10–15× baseline. But it also stimulates cortisol and prolactin, which limits its use in protocols where those hormones are confounding variables.
- Here's the honest answer: if you're running a study that requires clean GH stimulation without off-target hormone effects, ipamorelin is the ghrelin agonist with the best selectivity profile. If you need sustained GH elevation without multiple daily dosing, CJC-1295 DAC is the only GHRH agonist with a multi-day half-life. If your protocol involves measuring acute GH response kinetics, sermorelin or Mod GRF are the standard. Hexarelin works, but the cortisol spike makes data interpretation harder unless you're specifically studying the HPA axis.
- Stacking GHRH and ghrelin agonists produces synergistic effects. This isn't marketing, it's documented receptor pharmacology. GHRH agonists increase GH amplitude; ghrelin agonists reduce somatostatin inhibition. Combining them produces GH release 2–3× higher than either compound alone. The most common research stack is CJC-1295 (no DAC) with ipamorelin, dosed together to exploit the 30-minute window where both are active. Dosing protocols in published studies typically use 100–300 mcg of each compound per administration.
- Sermorelin
- GHRH agonist
- 8–12 minutes
- 2–10× baseline
- 60–90 minutes
- Minimal
- Acute GH response studies, pulsatile protocols
- Ipamorelin
- Ghrelin agonist
- 2 hours
- 3–5× baseline
- 2–3 hours
- Clean GH stimulation without cortisol/prolactin
- CJC-1295 (DAC)
- 6–8 days
- 2–4× baseline sustained
- 5–7 days
- Sustained GH elevation, once-weekly dosing
- CJC-1295 (no DAC / Mod GRF)
- 30 minutes
- 3–6× baseline
- 90–120 minutes
- Pulsatile protocols, stacking with ghrelin agonists
- Hexarelin
- 70 minutes
- 10–15× baseline
- 2–4 hours
- Cortisol +40%, Prolactin +60%
- High-amplitude GH studies (confounding hormones present)
- GHRP-2
- 20 minutes
- 5–8× baseline
- 90 minutes
- Cortisol +20%, Prolactin +30%
- Moderate potency, moderate side effect profile