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Glossary

Growth Hormone Secretagogue

A secretagogue prompts the pituitary to secrete its endogenous GH instead of adding hormone from outside. Three receptor classes and their feedback limits.

Growth hormone secretagogues are compounds that cause the pituitary to release the growth hormone it produces itself, instead of providing the hormone externally. The term describes a mechanism rather than a structure and covers three groups.

Three mechanistic groups

  • Agonists of the GHRH receptor — GHRH analogs acting on GHRHR, e.g. tesamorelin, sermorelin and Mod GRF 1-29
  • Agonists of the ghrelin receptor — the GHRPs, working through GHS-R1a
  • Small-molecule GHS-R1a agonists — non-peptide, orally active compounds such as ibutamoren (MK-677)

Contrast with exogenous growth hormone

Recombinant HGH, a biologic available only on prescription, supplies the finished hormone directly and bypasses the natural pulsatile pattern. Secretagogues work one step earlier, on the somatotrophs, so the release they produce keeps its pulsatile character and remains capped by inhibitory signals from IGF-1 and somatostatin. This built-in feedback ceiling is what defines the class mechanistically, and it explains why many protocols pair a GHRP with a GHRH-type peptide to engage both receptors.

Explore our GH and performance catalogue section, or see the overview on muscle growth research.

All glossary terms

Further reading

Guides that reference this term

Molecule guides

What Is CJC-1295 with DAC? Albumin Conjugation, GHRH Receptor Pharmacology and Research Use

The long-acting GHRH analogue explained: how its maleimide linker latches onto albumin Cys34, what days-long receptor occupancy changes, and how to handle and verify the material.

Molecule guides

Semaglutide: Acylated GLP-1 Analogue Design, Mechanism and Laboratory Use

Three engineering choices turned a peptide cleared in minutes into one that persists for days — what they were, what the receptor does, and which evidence applies to what.

Molecule guides

Muscle Growth Research Peptides: Skeletal Muscle Overview, Compound Classes and How to Choose

How GHRH analogues, GHRPs, IGF-1 variants and myostatin-pathway inhibitors differ, which endpoint each one actually moves, and how laboratories pick a reference compound.