Peptider Publications

Compound references

• 5-Amino-1MQ

  5-Amino-1MQ is a small-molecule NNMT inhibitor (not a peptide) sold as a fat-loss and longevity research compound. Its metabolic and muscle data in mice are real and reproducible — but the evidence is entirely preclinical, there are no human trials, and reviewers describe it as a limited-potency tool compound that may not become a drug.

• ACE-031

  ACE-031 (ramatercept) is a soluble ActRIIB-Fc fusion protein — a myostatin ligand trap that reliably builds muscle in animals and raised lean mass in early human trials. Its Duchenne program was halted when off-target BMP9/10 inhibition caused nosebleeds and dilated blood vessels.

• AOD-9604

  A synthetic fat-loss fragment of human growth hormone. It was well tolerated in humans, but its pivotal obesity trial failed and pharmaceutical development was discontinued in 2007; it is unapproved and prohibited in sport.

• ARA-290

  A non-erythropoietic peptide engineered from erythropoietin that selectively activates the innate repair receptor. Small Phase 2 trials show consistent benefit in small-fiber neuropathy, but it remains investigational and unapproved.

• BPC-157

  A synthetic gastric pentadecapeptide with a deep preclinical tissue-repair record, very little controlled human evidence, and an unapproved, prohibited regulatory status.

• Cagrilintide

  A long-acting amylin analogue that produces roughly 10% weight loss on its own and around 20% paired with semaglutide as CagriSema — investigational alone, with CagriSema now filed for FDA approval.

• CagriSema

  Novo Nordisk's fixed-dose once-weekly combination of cagrilintide (a long-acting amylin analogue) and semaglutide (a GLP-1 agonist), pairing two satiety pathways. It posts roughly 20% weight loss in pivotal phase 3 and was filed for FDA approval in December 2025 — but it missed non-inferiority against tirzepatide in a head-to-head trial, and long-term cardiovascular data are still maturing.

• Cartalax

  Cartalax (AED, Ala-Glu-Asp) is a Khavinson "bioregulator" tripeptide marketed for cartilage and connective tissue. Its evidence is minimal — single-group, in-vitro cell-culture work plus an unproven DNA-binding hypothesis — with no in-vivo efficacy data and no human trials.

• Cerebrolysin

  Cerebrolysin is a porcine brain-derived peptide mixture used in many countries for stroke, dementia, and brain injury. Unlike most research peptides it has real randomized trials — but the pooled evidence is mixed and often low-quality, it is not a single defined molecule, and it is not FDA-approved.

• CJC-1295

  A long-acting GHRH(1-29) analogue with a crucial catch — nearly all the human data are on the albumin-binding "DAC" form (which raises GH and IGF-1 for days), while the "CJC-1295 without DAC" (Modified GRF 1-29) sold most widely has essentially no human evidence. Neither form is approved anywhere, and the FDA flags it as a significant-risk compounding substance.

• Dihexa

  Dihexa is an orally active, brain-penetrant angiotensin IV-derived compound that potentiates HGF/c-Met signaling and, by one spinogenesis measure, is vastly more potent than BDNF. Its cognitive data are striking but entirely preclinical — no human trials, and an unknown safety profile.

• DSIP

  DSIP (delta sleep-inducing peptide) is a nonapeptide discovered in 1977 and sold today as a sleep and recovery peptide. Behind it is a large but inconclusive literature — and, half a century on, no identified gene, precursor, or receptor. Experts still call it "a still unresolved riddle."

• Epitalon

  Epitalon (AEDG) is a synthetic pineal tetrapeptide marketed as a telomerase "anti-aging" peptide. The telomerase mechanism has genuine cell-culture support, including one independent replication — but the human evidence is thin, old, non-randomized, and mostly for the predecessor extract, not the peptide itself.

• GHK-Cu

  GHK-Cu (copper tripeptide-1) is an endogenous copper-binding peptide with decades of mechanism research and genuine topical wound-healing evidence — including a diabetic-ulcer RCT. Its injectable "biohack" use, however, far outruns the human data.

• Ipamorelin

  The first selective growth-hormone secretagogue — it releases GH in pulses without raising cortisol or prolactin. Its one real clinical program (post-operative ileus) failed, and it is unapproved, prohibited in sport, and a gray-market staple.

• KPV

  KPV (Lys-Pro-Val) is the C-terminal anti-inflammatory fragment of alpha-MSH, with deep, reproducible, multi-lab preclinical evidence in colitis and wound models — and a genuinely elegant gut-uptake mechanism. But there is no completed human trial of KPV itself; the one controlled study tests a derivative.

• Melanotan I

  Melanotan I is [Nle⁴,D-Phe⁷]-α-MSH — the molecule that, as afamelanotide (SCENESSE), became the only FDA-approved melanocortin-peptide therapy, licensed for the rare disease erythropoietic protoporphyria. The "Melanotan I" sold for cosmetic tanning is that same molecule used off-label, without the trials, implant delivery, or skin monitoring of the approved product.

• Melanotan II

  A non-selective melanocortin agonist first developed for sunless tanning, then abandoned when it reliably triggered erections — the effect that seeded PT-141. Today it is an unapproved, WADA-banned gray-market injectable used for tanning, appetite suppression, and libido, with a real record of serious harms.

• MOTS-c

  MOTS-c is a peptide encoded within mitochondrial DNA that acts as an exercise mimetic and metabolic regulator. Its preclinical data (insulin sensitivity, aging, exercise capacity) are strong and a Phase 2a trial is underway — but no completed human efficacy trial exists, and it is banned in sport as an AMPK activator.

• NAD+

  NAD+ is a central redox coenzyme whose levels fall with age, making it a flagship longevity target via precursors (NMN, NR) and IV drips. The biology is real and precursors reliably raise NAD+ in people — but proven human healthspan benefit is lacking, and IV NAD+ is essentially unevidenced.

• Oxytocin

  Oxytocin is two things at once — an FDA-approved injectable obstetric drug (Pitocin) given by IV for labor and postpartum bleeding, and an investigational intranasal "social/bonding" agent whose largest, most rigorous trial (in autism) was null. The popular intranasal use is mechanistically motivated but not backed by convincing human outcome data.

• P21

  P21 (also written P021) is a small CNTF-derived neurotrophic peptide that boosts hippocampal neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity. Its Alzheimer's-model data are strong and consistent — but they come from essentially one research group, and there are no human trials.

• PE-22-28

  PE-22-28 is a synthetic heptapeptide and shortened spadin analog that blocks the TREK-1 potassium channel — a mechanistically novel, fast-acting antidepressant strategy validated in TREK-1-knockout mice. Its evidence, however, is entirely preclinical and from essentially one research group, with no human trials.

• Pinealon

  Pinealon (EDR, Glu-Asp-Arg) is a Khavinson "bioregulator" tripeptide marketed as a neuroprotective nootropic. Its antioxidant cell-culture data are concrete, and animal neuroprotection is reported — but the evidence is single-group, the epigenetic mechanism is unproven, and the human cognitive claims are uncontrolled.

• PT-141

  PT-141 (bremelanotide) is the melanotan-II-derived melanocortin agonist that became Vyleesi — FDA-approved in 2019 for premenopausal women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder. Unlike its parent, it is a genuinely trialed, approved drug — but with modest effect sizes and a narrow label, and the gray-market "PT-141" used by men is outside both.

• Retatrutide

  An investigational once-weekly triple agonist of the GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon receptors, with some of the largest weight-loss results yet reported for an incretin drug — and no regulatory approval anywhere.

• Selank

  Selank is a synthetic tuftsin-derived heptapeptide, approved in Russia as an anxiolytic that calms anxiety without benzodiazepine-style sedation or dependence. Its evidence is real but largely a single Russian research tradition, with limited independent Western replication and no FDA approval.

• Semaglutide

  A once-weekly GLP-1 receptor agonist and the most heavily evidenced compound here — approved for type 2 diabetes and obesity, and shown to cut cardiovascular events even in people without diabetes.

• Semax

  Semax is a synthetic ACTH(4-7)-PGP heptapeptide, approved in Russia for ischemic stroke and used widely as a nootropic. It has a real mechanistic and clinical literature — but one that is overwhelmingly a single Russian research tradition, with little independent Western replication and no FDA approval.

• Sermorelin

  Sermorelin (GHRH 1-29) is the prototypical GHRH-analogue peptide — once FDA-approved as Geref for pediatric growth-hormone deficiency, withdrawn in 2013 for commercial (not safety) reasons. Today it is sold gray-market for "anti-aging" GH boosting, a use it was never approved or proven for.

• SS-31

  SS-31 (elamipretide) is a mitochondria-targeting tetrapeptide that in 2025 earned its first FDA approval — Forzinity, for the rare Barth syndrome. But its broader clinical record is mixed, with missed primary endpoints in mitochondrial myopathy, heart failure, and STEMI. The 'SS-31' sold for anti-aging is the unapproved research compound.

• TB-500

  A synthetic acetylated fragment of thymosin β4 (Ac-LKKTETQ) studied for tissue repair. Its evidence is preclinical, its first human trial — a safety study — only began in 2026, and it is unapproved and prohibited in sport.

• Tesamorelin

  Tesamorelin (Egrifta) is the GHRH analogue that succeeded — an FDA-approved prescription drug for reducing excess visceral fat in HIV-associated lipodystrophy, backed by solid randomized-trial and meta-analytic evidence. Its label is explicit that it is not a general weight-loss drug.

• Tirzepatide

  A once-weekly dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonist — approved for type 2 diabetes and obesity, and the most effective single approved agent for weight loss to date, having beaten semaglutide head-to-head.