Ipamorelin: doses reported in published research

Sources checked 2026-10-07 · 4 cited studies (2 human, 2 animal, 0 cell culture) · 1 registered trial

Ipamorelin is a synthetic pentapeptide (Aib-His-D-2-Nal-D-Phe-Lys-NH2) that acts on the ghrelin/GHS receptor. Published dose data include a human pharmacokinetic study, a phase 2 trial in hospital inpatients, and rodent studies.

Human data: one pharmacokinetic study in healthy men (1999) and a phase 2 trial after bowel surgery (2014); a second phase 2 trial is registered as completed with no posted results.

Studies in people (2)

Human Healthy men, 8 per dose level, dose-escalation trial

Dose as reported: 4.21, 14.02, 42.13, 84.27 or 140.45 nmol/kg
Route: Intravenous infusion over 15 minutes
Frequency / duration: Single infusion per dose level

Source wording: 5 different infusion rates (4.21, 14.02, 42.13, 84.27 and 140.45 nmol/kg over 15 minutes) with eight healthy male subjects at each dose level

Gobburu JV, Agersø H, Jusko WJ et al.. Pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modeling of ipamorelin, a growth hormone releasing peptide, in human volunteers. Pharm Res 1999. PubMed PMID 10496658 ↗

Human 117 adults after bowel resection, phase 2, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled (NCT00672074)

Dose as reported: 0.03 mg/kg
Route: Intravenous infusion
Frequency / duration: Twice daily, postoperative day 1 to 7 or hospital discharge

Source wording: The intervention was intravenous infusions of 0.03-mg/kg ipamorelin vs placebo twice daily, on postoperative day 1 to 7 or hospital discharge. One hundred seventeen patients were enrolled

Beck DE, Sweeney WB, McCarter MD et al.. Prospective, randomized, controlled, proof-of-concept study of the Ghrelin mimetic ipamorelin for the management of postoperative ileus in bowel resection patients. Int J Colorectal Dis 2014. PubMed PMID 25331030 ↗

Animal studies (2)

Animal doses are listed exactly as the studies report them. They are not converted to human amounts here; doses do not translate between species by body weight.

Animal Adult female rats

Dose as reported: 0, 18, 90 or 450 µg/day (separate groups)
Route: Subcutaneous
Frequency / duration: Divided into 3 administrations daily for 15 days

Source wording: ipamorelin in different doses (0, 18, 90 and 450 microg/day) was injected s.c. three times daily for 15 days to adult female rats.

Johansen PB, Nowak J, Skjaerbaek C et al.. Ipamorelin, a new growth-hormone-releasing peptide, induces longitudinal bone growth in rats. Growth Horm IGF Res 1999. PubMed PMID 10373343 ↗

Animal Male rats (postoperative ileus model)

Dose as reported: 0.01-1 mg/kg
Route: Intravenous bolus
Frequency / duration: Single dose, or 4 doses a day at 3-h intervals for 2 days

Source wording: Ipamorelin (0.01-1 mg/kg), growth hormone-releasing peptide (GHRP)-6 (20 microg/kg), or vehicle (saline) were administered via intravenous bolus infusion after a single dosing or a 2-day repetitive dosing regimen (four doses a day at 3-h intervals).

Venkova K, Mann W, Nelson R et al.. Efficacy of ipamorelin, a novel ghrelin mimetic, in a rodent model of postoperative ileus. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 2009. PubMed PMID 19289567 ↗

Registered trials (1)

From ClinicalTrials.gov records. Registry entries describe planned designs; they are not published results.

Registered trial (no published results) Phase 2 trial of gastrointestinal function after surgery; completed, no results posted

Dose as reported: 0.03 mg/kg BID; 0.06 mg/kg BID; or 0.06 mg/kg TID (separate arms)
Route: Intravenous
Frequency / duration: BID or TID (as listed in the registry)

Source wording: Ipamorelin 0.03 mg/kg, BID Ipamorelin 0.06 mg/kg, BID Ipamorelin 0.06 mg/kg, TID Intravenous (IV)

Safety and Efficacy of Ipamorelin Compared to Placebo for the Recovery of Gastrointestinal Function. ClinicalTrials.gov registry record. NCT01280344 ↗

Half-life

Human Terminal half-life of 2 hours in healthy male volunteers after 15-minute intravenous infusions. Source wording: with a short terminal half-life of 2 hours 140.45 nmol/kg over 15 minutes
Gobburu JV, Agersø H, Jusko WJ et al.. Pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modeling of ipamorelin, a growth hormone releasing peptide, in human volunteers. Pharm Res 1999. PubMed PMID 10496658 ↗

About this page

Every figure above is copied from the cited source; the source wording is shown with each entry. Where a source does not state something, the page says so.
Only abstracts, open-access full texts, registry records and FDA labels were used, so details found only in a paywalled full text may be missing.
This page does not convert doses between species or into other measures, and gives no preparation or handling information.