Ghrelin infusion improves cardiac function in patients suffering from cardiac failure and bolus administration of ghrelin increases cardiac output in healthy subjects. The cardiovascular effects of more continuous intravenous ghrelin exposure remain to be studied. We therefore studied the cardiovascular effects of a constant infusion of human ghrelin at a rate of 5 pmol/kg per minute for 180 minutes. Fifteen healthy, young (aged 23.2 ± 0.5 years) and normal-weight (23.0 ± 0.4 kg/m²) men volunteered in a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over study. With the subjects remaining fasting peak myocardial systolic velocity S', tissue tracking TT, left ventricular ejection fraction EF, and endothelium-dependent flow-mediated vasodilatation were measured. Ghrelin infusion increased S' 9 % (P = 0.002), TT 10 % (P < 0.001), while EF, resting blood flow velocity and endothelium-dependent flow-mediated vasodilatation did not change (P = 0.13). This was associated with a peak in serum growth hormone after 60 minutes of infusion (37.77 ± 5.27 ng/ml, P < 0.001), a doubling of free fatty levels (P = 0.001), and a 1.6-fold increase in cortisol levels (P < 0.05), while glucose and catecholamine levels were constant. In conclusion, supraphysiological levels of ghrelin stimulates left ventricular function in terms of peak myocardial systolic velocity and tissue tracking in healthy young normal-weight men without changing resting blood flow velocity and endothelium-dependent flow-mediated vasodilatation. The effects did not translate into detectable increments in ejection fraction.