CJC-1295 + Ipamorelin + Tesamorelin — Research Evidence Review: GH Axis Mechanisms & Study Limitations
Synergistic GHRH + GHRP + GHRH-analog research stack for the somatotropic axis. Mechanism, dosing, timing and UK regulatory notes.
What is the CJC-1295, ipamorelin and tesamorelin stack?
The CJC-1295 + ipamorelin + tesamorelin stack is the name given to using three growth hormone (GH)-axis peptides together: two growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) analogues, CJC-1295 and tesamorelin, and one growth hormone secretagogue, ipamorelin. Only tesamorelin is an approved medicine (FDA-approved as Egrifta for reducing excess abdominal fat in HIV-infected adults with lipodystrophy), and we found no published human trial that tests the three together.
What are the key facts about this stack?
- Only one of the three is an approved medicine. The FDA label for tesamorelin (Egrifta SV and Egrifta WR) says it is "indicated for the reduction of excess abdominal fat in HIV-infected adult patients with lipodystrophy" and "not indicated for weight loss management" (Egrifta SV label, Egrifta WR label; first approved 10 November 2010, Drugs@FDA application 022505). Searches of openFDA label and Drugs@FDA records on 3 October 2026 returned nothing for ipamorelin or CJC-1295.
- Tesamorelin's pivotal evidence is in people with HIV, not healthy users. In a 26-week randomised trial of 412 people with HIV and abdominal fat accumulation (PMID 18057338), visceral fat fell 15.2% on 2 mg of tesamorelin daily and rose 5.0% on placebo, and IGF-I rose 81.0% versus a 5.0% fall on placebo.
- The CJC-1295 trial used a long-acting analogue. In healthy adults (PMID 16352683), one injection dose-dependently raised mean GH 2- to 10-fold for 6 days or more; the estimated half-life was 5.8–8.1 days. The paper's title calls it "a long-acting analog", so it is not data on the short-acting no-DAC form this stack names.
- All three are on the WADA Prohibited List. The 2026 list names CJC-1295 and tesamorelin (GHRH analogues) and ipamorelin (growth hormone secretagogue) under S2, prohibited at all times, in and out of competition (WADA 2026 Prohibited List).
Is there clinical evidence that the three work together?
No. A PubMed search on 3 October 2026 for tesamorelin AND ipamorelin returned six records, and a search for CJC-1295 AND ipamorelin returned ten; none carries a clinical-trial publication type, and they are reviews, primers and doping-analysis papers. The evidence that exists is for the compounds separately (see the key facts above). A 2026 narrative review in Frontiers in Endocrinology (PMID 42395176) sorts these peptides into evidence tiers "from regulatory-grade randomized trial data to a complete absence of human studies" and highlights "the resulting uncertainty around putative performance and recomposition benefits", citing the "uncertainty surrounding product composition, dose, and stacking practices in unregulated supply chains". Mechanistic reasoning for combining a GHRH analogue with a secretagogue is set out below; it is not evidence that this specific three-compound combination is effective or safe.
Can tesamorelin and CJC-1295 be stacked together?
The references cited on this page do not show whether tesamorelin and CJC-1295 can be combined, or what combining them would do: none of them tests the two together in people. Both are described on this page as growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) analogues that act on the same pituitary receptor. The synergy cited on this page is between a growth hormone-releasing peptide (GHRP) and a GHRH, in studies that used earlier GHRPs and native-sequence GHRH rather than CJC-1295 (PMID 2108187, PMID 2004615), summarised in a review (PMID 9186261), not between two GHRH analogues. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to combine them.
What is this stack claimed to do, and what does the evidence show?
The wording below paraphrases the kinds of claim made for this combination online; it is not quoted from any source. Each is set against what the references cited on this page do and do not report; none of this is advice to use any of these compounds.
- Claim: "It has anti-ageing effects." Reality: this page cites no human trial of the three together (see "Is there clinical evidence that the three work together?"). The tesamorelin trial cited here (PMID 18057338) enrolled people with HIV and abdominal fat accumulation, not healthy users.
- Claim: "It speeds recovery." Reality: the references cited on this page include no human trial of the three together, so none of them tests this claim for this combination.
- Claim: "It improves body composition and fat loss." Reality: in the tesamorelin trial (PMID 18057338; 412 people with HIV and abdominal fat accumulation; visceral adipose tissue measured by CT), visceral fat fell 15.2% on tesamorelin and rose 5.0% on placebo. That is a result for tesamorelin alone in people with HIV, and the FDA label says tesamorelin is "not indicated for weight loss management". A 2026 review (PMID 42395176) refers to "the resulting uncertainty around putative performance and recomposition benefits".
- Claim: "These are approved treatments." Reality: only tesamorelin is an approved medicine, FDA-approved in the United States as Egrifta for reducing excess abdominal fat in HIV-infected adult patients with lipodystrophy; it is not licensed in the UK. Searches of openFDA label and Drugs@FDA records on 3 October 2026 returned nothing for ipamorelin or CJC-1295, and the 2026 review (PMID 42395176) also cites "uncertainty surrounding product composition, dose, and stacking practices in unregulated supply chains".
Are CJC-1295, ipamorelin and tesamorelin approved or permitted?
Tesamorelin is FDA-approved for the single indication above; the other two are not approved by the FDA according to the searches noted in the key facts. All three are prohibited in sport under WADA class S2. The UK position is summarised in the safety box further down this page. Nothing on this page is medical advice or a recommendation to use any of these compounds; see our medical disclaimer.
What does each compound do on the growth hormone axis?
The CJC-1295 (no DAC) + Ipamorelin + Tesamorelin stack is a three-compound combination used in online peptide protocols; as set out above, no published human trial has tested it. Each compound is proposed to target a distinct node on the growth hormone axis: CJC-1295 as a GHRH analogue intended to amplify the magnitude of pituitary GH pulses, Ipamorelin as a ghrelin-receptor agonist intended to trigger the pulse event itself, and Tesamorelin as a stabilised GHRH analogue intended to provide a sustained GHRH-receptor signal. The intended result is a three-axis strategy — pulse amplitude, pulse frequency and tonic receptor occupation — that is a hypothesis, not a demonstrated effect. Both CJC-1295 (no DAC) and Ipamorelin are unapproved research compounds in the UK. Tesamorelin (Egrifta) holds FDA approval for HIV-associated lipodystrophy and is under research for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and metabolic endpoints.
Why three GH-axis peptides?
The human GH axis operates through a finely timed push-pull system. Growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), secreted by the hypothalamus, arrives at the pituitary somatotropes and increases the amplitude of discrete GH pulses. Ghrelin and its receptor (GHSR1a) provide a parallel, mechanistically separate trigger that determines the frequency and initiation timing of those pulses. These two signals are not additive — seminal work by Cyril Bowers (Tulane University) in the early 1990s demonstrated that co-administration of a GHRH analogue with a growth hormone-releasing peptide (GHRP) produces a synergistic GH response, with combined pulse magnitude exceeding the arithmetic sum of either compound administered alone.
CJC-1295 (no DAC) is intended to fill the GHRH role as the short-acting form; online protocols describe it as giving a discrete pulse with each injection, but no controlled human study has evaluated it and its half-life has not been reported in human studies (PMID 42395176). Ipamorelin is intended to fill the GHRP role selectively — in swine it did not raise ACTH or cortisol beyond the levels seen after GHRH stimulation, unlike GHRP-6 and GHRP-2. This selectivity profile was characterised by Knud Raun and colleagues at Novo Nordisk (PMID 9849822). Tesamorelin, the compound developed from work carried out in part by Jens Sandahl Christiansen's group and advanced to Phase III by Julian Falutz, is a stabilised full-length GHRH(1–44) analogue that provides tonic receptor occupation between pulsatile injections, sustaining elevated IGF-1 over 12-week cycles.
Mechanism of action — each peptide
CJC-1295 (no DAC) — mechanism of action
CJC-1295 (no DAC) is a modified GHRH(1–29) analogue carrying four amino-acid substitutions that confer resistance to dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) cleavage and plasma peptidase degradation, without the maleimidopropionic acid Drug Affinity Complex (DAC) moiety that extends half-life to several days. Online protocols favour the no-DAC form on the premise that a shorter-acting analogue produces a discrete, time-limited GH pulse rather than a sustained plateau; that premise is untested, because its plasma half-life has not been reported in human studies and no controlled clinical study has evaluated it in humans (PMID 42395176).
The mechanism at the receptor level is orthodox GHRH pharmacology. CJC-1295 binds the pituitary GHRH receptor (GHRHR) — a Gs-protein-coupled receptor — triggering adenylyl cyclase activation, cAMP accumulation and protein kinase A-mediated phosphorylation of voltage-gated calcium channels in somatotrope cells. The resulting calcium influx drives GH granule exocytosis. Published pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data for a long-acting CJC-1295 analogue (Teichman et al., JCEM 2006, PMID 16352683; estimated half-life 5.8–8.1 days) showed dose-dependent GH and IGF-I elevation after single injections and evidence of a cumulative effect after multiple doses in healthy adults; that trial did not study the short-acting no-DAC form. No human data on receptor desensitisation or glucose handling with thrice-daily dosing of the no-DAC form have been reported.
Ipamorelin — mechanism of action
Ipamorelin is a pentapeptide growth hormone secretagogue (Aib-His-D-2Nal-D-Phe-Lys-NH2) developed at Novo Nordisk. Its defining pharmacological property is high selectivity for the ghrelin receptor (GHSR1a) relative to other neuroendocrine receptors. In conscious swine, GHRP-6 and GHRP-2 increased plasma ACTH and cortisol (Raun et al., PMID 9849822). In the same study ipamorelin released GH in rats and swine; in swine none of the secretagogues tested affected FSH, LH, prolactin or TSH levels, and ipamorelin did not release ACTH or cortisol in levels significantly different from those seen after GHRH stimulation, even at doses more than 200-fold higher than its ED50 for GH release. These are animal findings; see PMID 10373343 for a separate rat study of ipamorelin and bone growth.
The mechanism of pulse triggering is complementary to — and synergistic with — GHRH. Ipamorelin activates GHSR1a on pituitary somatotropes through a Gq/11-coupled pathway that mobilises intracellular calcium from inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3)-sensitive stores, independent of the cAMP pathway engaged by GHRHR. This mechanistic independence from CJC-1295's signalling cascade is the proposed molecular basis for the greater-than-additive GH release reported when GHRPs and GHRH are combined as drug classes (PMID 9186261); it has not been shown for this specific pair in published human trials. A plasma half-life of approximately 2 hours supports the thrice-daily research dosing schedule used in combination protocols. At the doses studied in published Phase I research, Ipamorelin does not suppress endogenous somatostatin or alter the diurnal GH nadir, preserving the physiological rhythm that the three-compound stack is designed to amplify rather than replace.
Tesamorelin — mechanism of action
Tesamorelin is a synthetic conjugate of GHRH(1–44) linked at its N-terminus to a trans-3-hexenoic acid moiety, a structural modification that increases stability against plasma peptidase degradation and extends the biologically active half-life relative to endogenous GHRH. It binds and activates the pituitary GHRHR with the same mechanism as CJC-1295 but represents the full-length native peptide sequence, yielding receptor engagement kinetics that differ subtly from the truncated GHRH(1–29) analogues. In the pivotal Phase III trial led by Julian Falutz (NEJM 2007, PMID 18057338), daily subcutaneous tesamorelin at 2 mg produced a statistically significant 15.2% reduction in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) measured by CT (versus a 5.0% increase on placebo) in HIV-infected patients with antiretroviral-associated lipodystrophy — the endpoint on which FDA approval (Egrifta, Theratechnologies) was granted.
Beyond the approved lipodystrophy indication, Stanley et al. (JCEM 2014) documented significant reductions in liver fat fraction in HIV-infected patients with abdominal fat accumulation, and Fourman et al. (Hepatology 2020) extended this to NAFLD endpoints in an HIV-uninfected cohort, suggesting that tesamorelin's metabolic effects on hepatic lipid handling are not limited to the HIV context. In the three-compound stack, tesamorelin's role is to provide a sustained, tonic GHRH-receptor signal in the intervals between pulsatile CJC-1295 injections, maintaining elevated IGF-1 throughout the 12-week cycle and adding a documented visceral-fat research signal that the GHRP-only and short-acting GHRH-only protocols do not replicate.
Summarised studies on the combination
No single published clinical trial has studied all three compounds simultaneously; the research base for this stack is built from converging lines of evidence across separate but mechanistically linked datasets.
Synergy between a GHRP and GHRH was first reported by Cyril Bowers and colleagues (Tulane): in 18 normal men, submaximal doses of the hexapeptide GHRP (GHRP-6) given with GHRH(1–44) stimulated GH release synergistically (J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1990, PMID 2108187), and rat studies followed (Endocrinology 1991, PMID 2004615). A 1997 review by Ghigo, Arvat and colleagues (PMID 9186261) summarises that the GH-releasing activity of GHRPs is synergistic with that of GHRH. These studies used earlier GHRPs, not ipamorelin, and native-sequence GHRH, not CJC-1295. The proposed explanation is the separate receptor pathways described in the MechanismCard sections above. This class-level synergy is the stated rationale for the CJC-1295 + Ipamorelin pairing at the core of this stack; it is not evidence that the specific pairing has been tested.
For long-acting CJC-1295, the Teichman trials (PMID 16352683) — two randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind ascending-dose trials in healthy adults — reported that a single injection produced dose-dependent increases in mean plasma GH of 2- to 10-fold for 6 days or more and in mean plasma IGF-I of 1.5- to 3-fold for 9–11 days. They did not study the short-acting no-DAC form. Jetté et al. 2005 (PMID 15817669) characterised the albumin-conjugated long-acting form in rats; it supplies no data on amounts used in people for the short-acting no-DAC form. A sentence previously attributed on this page to "Alba et al." described a combined ipamorelin + GHRH study in GH-deficient adults; we could not find such a study. The nearest published work from that group is in GHRH-knockout mice, not people (PMID 16601359, GHRH analogue plus GHRP-2; PMID 16822960, long-acting CJC-1295), and neither used ipamorelin.
For tesamorelin, the Falutz NEJM Phase III trial (PMID 18057338) remains the highest-quality evidence: a randomised, placebo-controlled study of 412 HIV-infected patients in which 2 mg/day tesamorelin for 26 weeks decreased visceral adipose tissue by 15.2% while it increased by 5.0% on placebo (p<0.001), alongside an 81.0% rise in IGF-I (versus a 5.0% fall on placebo) and no significant differences in glycemic measures. Stanley and Fourman extended the dataset into hepatic endpoints. The combination of all three compounds in this stack has not been tested in any registered human clinical trial; the protocol below is a research synthesis, not a clinical recommendation. See our evidence-level classifier for how a single Phase III RCT like Falutz compares to the single-dose PK studies underlying CJC-1295 and Ipamorelin.
Full research protocol
| Peptide | Dose | Frequency | Timing | Cycle length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CJC-1295 (no DAC) | 100 µg | 3x daily SC | Pre-fasted, pre-bed, post-workout | 8–12 weeks |
| Ipamorelin | 200–300 µg | 3x daily SC | Co-administered with CJC-1295 | 8–12 weeks |
| Tesamorelin | 1–2 mg | Daily SC | Evening pre-bed | 12 weeks |
Weekly research timeline
| Peptide | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CJC-1295 (no DAC) | 100 µg 3x | 100 µg 3x | 100 µg 3x | 100 µg 3x | 100 µg 3x | 100 µg 3x | 100 µg 3x | 100 µg 3x | — | — | — | — |
| Ipamorelin | 300 µg 3x | 300 µg 3x | 300 µg 3x | 300 µg 3x | 300 µg 3x | 300 µg 3x | 300 µg 3x | 300 µg 3x | — | — | — | — |
| Tesamorelin | 1 mg | 1 mg | 2 mg | 2 mg | 2 mg | 2 mg | 2 mg | 2 mg | — | — | — | — |
- Weeks 1–2 (introduction phase): Tesamorelin introduced at 1 mg/day to assess tolerability (paraesthesia, fluid retention). CJC-1295 and Ipamorelin at full pulsatile dose from day one.
- Weeks 3–8 (full-dose phase): Tesamorelin escalated to 2 mg/day. All three compounds at research-protocol doses simultaneously. IGF-1 signal accumulates; visceral-fat metabolic effects become measurable in published Falutz-model timelines at weeks 8–12.
- Weeks 9–12 (CJC/Ipamorelin taper — not shown above): CJC-1295 and Ipamorelin are typically reduced to twice-daily or discontinued while Tesamorelin continues to week 12 to maintain the IGF-1 and VAT-reduction signal through the full cycle.
- Post-cycle: A 4-week washout before re-initiation. IGF-1 returns toward baseline within 6–8 weeks of tesamorelin discontinuation in published trial data.
Reconstitution & storage notes
Tesamorelin is a prescription product with manufacturer instructions, summarised here from the FDA labels: Egrifta SV is administered immediately after reconstitution, any unused solution is discarded, and the reconstituted solution is not to be frozen or refrigerated (Egrifta SV label); Egrifta WR is reconstituted once for 7 daily doses, kept at room temperature (20–25 °C), not frozen or refrigerated after mixing, and unused solution is discarded 7 days after mixing (Egrifta WR label). This page gives no handling instructions for CJC-1295 or ipamorelin because we found no regulatory label or human study to source them to.
Related research
For a recomposition-focused variant that adds BPC-157 for tissue-repair and anti-inflammatory support alongside the pulsatile GH pair, see the Ipamorelin + CJC-1295 + BPC-157 Recomp Stack. For a protocol focused specifically on visceral adipose tissue reduction using tesamorelin alongside the fat-selective AOD-9604 fragment, see the Tesamorelin + AOD-9604 Visceral Fat Stack.
Frequently asked questions
Why combine a GHRH analogue with a GHRP?
Why also add Tesamorelin?
Can tesamorelin and CJC-1295 be stacked together?
What is the CJC-1295, ipamorelin and tesamorelin stack?
Is there a clinical trial of CJC-1295, ipamorelin and tesamorelin used together?
Are CJC-1295, ipamorelin and tesamorelin approved medicines?
Are CJC-1295, ipamorelin and tesamorelin banned in sport?
References
Peer-reviewed sources for the claims above. Where an editor has verified study type, sample size, outcome and limitation, the citation is rendered as a card; otherwise as a plain reference. Links open PubMed or the journal DOI.
- Ghigo E, Arvat E, Muccioli G, Camanni F. Growth hormone-releasing peptides. European Journal of Endocrinology. 1997;136(5) :445-60 doi:10.1530/eje.0.1360445 · PMID: 9186261
- Raun K, Hansen BS, Johansen NL, et al.. Ipamorelin, the first selective growth hormone secretagogue. European Journal of Endocrinology. 1998;139(5) :552-61 doi:10.1530/eje.0.1390552 · PMID: 9849822
- Johansen PB, Nowak J, Skjaerbaek C, et al.. Ipamorelin, a new growth-hormone-releasing peptide, induces longitudinal bone growth in rats. Growth Hormone & IGF Research. 1999;9(2) :106-13 doi:10.1054/ghir.1999.9998 · PMID: 10373343
- Falutz J, Allas S, Blot K, et al.. Metabolic effects of a growth hormone-releasing factor in patients with HIV. New England Journal of Medicine. 2007;357(23) :2359-70 doi:10.1056/NEJMoa072375 · PMID: 18057338
- Dominikowski A, et al.. The emerging landscape of performance-enhancing peptides modulating GH-IGF1 axis: bridging the gap between clinical evidence and patient self-administration. Frontiers in Endocrinology. 2026 doi:10.3389/fendo.2026.1822475 · PMID: 42395176
- Teichman SL, Neale A, Lawrence B, Gagnon C, Castaigne JP, Frohman LA. Prolonged stimulation of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I secretion by CJC-1295, a long-acting analog of GH-releasing hormone, in healthy adults. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. 2006;91(3) :799-805 doi:10.1210/jc.2005-1536 · PMID: 16352683
- Bowers CY, Reynolds GA, Durham D, Barrera CM, Pezzoli SS, Thorner MO. Growth hormone (GH)-releasing peptide stimulates GH release in normal men and acts synergistically with GH-releasing hormone. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. 1990;70(4) :975-82 doi:10.1210/jcem-70-4-975 · PMID: 2108187
- Bowers CY, Sartor AO, Reynolds GA, Badger TM. On the actions of the growth hormone-releasing hexapeptide, GHRP. Endocrinology. 1991;128(4) :2027-35 doi:10.1210/endo-128-4-2027 · PMID: 2004615
- Correction (2026-10-03): Corrected 3 October 2026: this page previously described the Teichman et al. 2006 trial (PMID 16352683) as a study of the short-acting no-DAC form of CJC-1295 at 100 µg per injection, with a 1.5- to 3-fold rise in 24-hour GH. The trial actually studied a long-acting CJC-1295 analogue (estimated half-life 5.8–8.1 days) and reported 2- to 10-fold GH and 1.5- to 3-fold IGF-I increases after a single injection. The Falutz et al. 2007 results were also restated to match the paper (visceral fat fell 15.2% on tesamorelin and rose 5.0% on placebo; IGF-I rose 81.0%, not 35%), and its DOI was corrected.
- Correction (2026-10-03): Corrected 3 October 2026: a sentence previously attributed to 'Alba et al.' described a combined ipamorelin + GHRH study in GH-deficient adults; we could not find such a study. The nearest published work from that group is in GHRH-knockout mice, not people (PMID 16601359, GHRH analogue plus GHRP-2; PMID 16822960, long-acting CJC-1295), and neither used ipamorelin. The Jetté et al. 2005 paper (PMID 15817669) was previously described as informing a 100 µg per-injection amount for people; it is a rat study of the long-acting form and supplies no data on amounts used in people for the short-acting no-DAC form.
- Correction (2026-10-03): Corrected 3 October 2026: the page stated that reconstituted tesamorelin is stable at 2–8 °C for up to 24 hours per the approved product data. The FDA labels say otherwise: Egrifta SV is administered immediately after reconstitution and the reconstituted solution is not to be frozen or refrigerated; Egrifta WR is kept at room temperature (20–25 °C), is not to be frozen or refrigerated after mixing, and unused solution is discarded 7 days after mixing. The paragraph now states the label instructions. Two further sentences giving CJC-1295 and ipamorelin reconstitution concentrations and a stability window of about 28 days at 2–8 °C were deleted because they could not be sourced to a regulatory label or a human study.
- Correction (2026-10-03): Corrected 3 October 2026: the page stated a CJC-1295 (no DAC) half-life of about 25–30 minutes as fact. A 2026 review (PMID 42395176) reports that no controlled human studies have evaluated the no-DAC form and that its half-life has not been reported in human studies, so the figure was removed. Statements that receptor desensitisation is 'not a significant concern' and that glucose metabolism is 'minimally perturbed' with thrice-daily dosing were also removed as unsupported by human data.
- Correction (2026-10-03): Corrected 3 October 2026: the page said the CJC-1295 + ipamorelin combination produces synergistic GH release 'in published animal and human research'. Reported synergy is between the drug classes (GHRPs and GHRH; PMID 9186261), not shown for CJC-1295 with ipamorelin specifically, and no published human trial has tested that pairing. An unsourced claim that the stack is the 'most comprehensive somatotropic research protocol available' and claims that no two-compound combination can replicate it were removed, and the tesamorelin visceral-fat reduction was restated as 15.2% (versus a 5.0% increase on placebo) from the trial abstract.
- Correction (2026-10-03): Corrected 3 October 2026: the 'Summarised studies' section described the GHRH + GHRP synergy as replicated by Ghigo, Arvat and colleagues in European populations; PMID 9186261 is a 1997 review, not a replication. It now cites the original Bowers et al. human and rat studies (PMID 2108187, PMID 2004615) and states they used earlier GHRPs rather than ipamorelin, and native GHRH rather than CJC-1295. The ipamorelin description previously claimed no significant cortisol or prolactin effect at doses up to 500 µg/kg and called it the 'cleanest GHRP available'; it now reports what Raun et al. 1998 (PMID 9849822) found in swine (no ACTH or cortisol release beyond the response to GHRH, even at doses more than 200-fold above the GH ED50; no effect on FSH, LH, prolactin or TSH by any secretagogue tested), and the claim that hexarelin co-stimulates ACTH, cortisol and prolactin was removed as unsourced.
- Correction (2026-10-10): Corrected 10 October 2026: the FAQ 'Why also add Tesamorelin?' stated as fact that adding tesamorelin 'provides a sustained GHRH signal in addition to the CJC-1295 acute spikes'. The 'What does each compound do on the growth hormone axis?' section of this page presents that role as an intended effect and 'a hypothesis, not a demonstrated effect', and none of the references cited on this page tests the three together; the answer now states it as the proposed rationale.
Pages on PeptideStacks are reviewed when relevant new evidence becomes available. If you spot an error or have new evidence to suggest, please use our corrections policy.
Continue reading
CJC-1295 — GHRH(1-29) Analogue (no DAC / DAC variants)
Research profile of CJC-1295 (no-DAC and DAC variants): GHRH receptor mechanism, pulse biology, dosing protocols, UK regulatory status and reconstitution.
Ipamorelin — Selective Growth Hormone Secretagogue
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CJC-1295 vs Tesamorelin — Comparing Two GHRH Analogues
Head-to-head comparison of CJC-1295 (no DAC) and Tesamorelin: mechanism, half-life, dosing schedule, evidence base, and which research context suits each GHRH analogue.
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