Home / Research library / GHRP-2
Compound guide
GHRP-2: what the research covers
A synthetic hexapeptide secretagogue that releases more growth hormone than ipamorelin and touches more axes while doing it. The lack of selectivity is why it keeps appearing in comparative work.
What GHRP-2 is
GHRP-2 is a six-residue synthetic peptide, D-Ala-D-βNal-Ala-Trp-D-Phe-Lys-NH2, built around three unnatural features: two D-amino acids, a β-naphthylalanine side chain and a carboxy-terminal amide. None of those arise by accident, and all three exist to resist the proteases that would otherwise clear a hexapeptide in moments.
It acts on GHSR-1a, the ghrelin receptor, the same target as ipamorelin and MK-677. Signalling runs through Gq, phospholipase C and intracellular calcium, and the result at the pituitary is growth hormone release that is larger in magnitude than ipamorelin produces.
It does not stop there. GHRP-2 raises cortisol, prolactin and ACTH to a measurable degree. That is the trade for its potency, and it is the single most important fact about the compound when designing around it.
Selectivity as the experimental variable
Pairing GHRP-2 against ipamorelin is one of the cleaner natural experiments available in this class. Both are ghrelin receptor agonists; one is selective and one is not. Any difference in cortisol, prolactin or ACTH between the two arms can therefore be attributed to receptor promiscuity rather than to a different pathway, which is difficult to achieve with less closely matched compounds.
That is also why GHRP-2 is often the positive control rather than the compound under test. When an investigator needs confidence that a pituitary preparation is capable of a large GH response at all, a potent non-selective secretagogue answers that question before a selective one is asked to answer a subtler version of it.
The comparison page Ipamorelin versus GHRP-2 sets the two side by side in detail.
How Amino Club supplies it
GHRP-2 is supplied lyophilised in sealed vials as GHRP-2 Acetate, specified at 99% purity or better by HPLC with identity confirmed by mass spectrometry and released against the batch Certificate of Analysis. The lab testing page documents the release sequence.
The acetate salt form matters for cell work: residual trifluoroacetate from reverse-phase purification is itself active on cultured cells and can confound a low-concentration assay. Sealed vials tolerate ambient transit and are stored below −18 °C long term; diluents are under reconstitution supplies.
Related reading
GHRP-2 belongs to the growth hormone research peptides group with ipamorelin, hexarelin, MK-677, sermorelin and CJC-1295. The direct comparison is Ipamorelin versus GHRP-2.
Every guide is indexed in the research library. Certificates and storage are covered on the FAQ, quantity pricing through bulk and wholesale.
Research use only
GHRP-2 supplied by Amino Club is a laboratory reference material. It is not a medicine, not a supplement, and not for human or veterinary use, and no dosing guidance or administration protocol is provided. The full terms are in the research use policy.