GHRP-6β peptide, growth hormone secretion stimulant. These substances have been developed to treat growth hormone deficiency. GHRP-6 is very similar to GHRP-2, the main difference is that the second is about 1.5 more powerful GH booster, but it also increases the concentration of prolactin and cortisol. These peptides can be used in combination to achieve a synergistic effect. The maximum concentration of growth hormone in the blood was observed with the joint administration of GHRP-6 and GHRP-2. The entire line of GHRP peptides has a significant effect on appetite, however, according to athletes' reviews, GHRP-6 has a slightly greater effect on appetite. This effect weakens already at the 2nd week of the cycle. GHRP-6 can be injected into the body in various ways: subcutaneously, orally, under the tongue, but most often intramuscularly. The molecules of this substance are so small that they can get into the vessels of the mouth and stomach before being destroyed by digestive enzymes. However, only injectable routes of administration provide optimal bioavailability.
GHRP group
The abbreaviation GHRP stands for Growth Hormone Releasing Peptide, the peptide that stimulates the secretion of growth hormone. All drugs in this group are ghrelin receptor agonists. Their activation lies in the fact that they attach ghrelin receptors and activate them (Ghrelin is a peptide hormone that the properties of gonadoliberin and other metabolic and endocrine functions). As a result, the secretion of its own somatotropic hormone by the pituitary gland is stimulated. This methos of releasing growth hormone has its advantages and disadvantages, which we will describe below.
In medicine, these drugs were originally studied to replace expensive growth hormone treatment in children and adults with insufficient secretion of self-tropin. Later it turned out that this class of drugs has significantly greater therapeutic potential. GHRP drugs are most often used for the same purposes as growth hormone and can be chosen as a more cos-effective alternative. This can be an increase in muscle mass, cosmetic improvement of the skin, strengthening of a healing after injuries.
Mechanism of action
All GHRP are mimetics of ghrelin, a hormone produced by stomach cells in response to fasting. Ghrelin and ghrelin mimetics act by activating the ghrelin receptor (GHS-R1a). Elevated ghrelin levels increase growth hormone levels by stimulating ghrelin receptors in the pituitary gland. GHRP stimulates the release of growth hormone in the same way that fasting-induced ghrelin increases.
Studies have shown that stimulation of growth hormone secretion by GHRP drugs have many positive anabolic effects associated with increased plasma levels of growth hormone. The increase in growth hormone levels is followed by increased secretion of the IGF-1 protein, which also has many other beneficial properties, such as strengthening tendons by increasing collagen synthesis, as well as neuroprotective properties and a positive effect on immune system.
Effects of Increased Growth Hormone and IGF-1
Growth hormone plays a key role in regulating body composition. An important property of GH is its powerful lipolytic effect. The administration of growth hormone to people with its deficiency reduces body fat mass and significantly increases lean body mass. A recent meta-analysis concluded that growth hormone supplementation in healthy athletes increased body mass by an average pf 1.8 kg.
Growth hormone enhances lipolysis directly by reducing the action of a number of lipogenic enzymes and indirectly increasing the production of other lipolytic hormones such as catecholamines glucagon, as well by increasing the expression of adipocyte adrenoreceptors. In general, these effects lead to an increase in the utilization of body fat. But it is impossible to reliably say that GHRP group drugs affect adipose tissue in exactly the same way, because, as experiments have shown, these peptides can have effects independent of this increasing the amount of fat in the body.
Growth hormone plays an important role as an anabolic agent in human skeletal muscle and tendon connective tissue, which provide a matrix for the transmission of force from individual muscle fibers to bone. Thus, reinforced connective tissue will give a stronger and more resistant muscle and tendon structure. It is for this reason that growth hormone is used by athletes to treat muscle and tendon injuries. Similarly, high levels of growth hormone improves bone strength both directly and indirectly by increasing intestinal calcium absorption and serum vitamin D concentrations.
On the most highly regarded effects of growth hormone is its effects on muscle anabolism. A decrease in muscle mass and protein synthesis is observed with a decrease in the production of growth hormone and IGF-1. Growth hormone induces uptake of glucose and amino acids and stimulates protein synthesis, possibly using energy derived from its lipolytic activity. The effect of growth hormone on protein in mediated both indirectly through IGF-1 and directly.
