Editorial entries for every peptide we cover — each page links the vendors that carry it, the reviews users have left, and the literature behind it.
Metabolic
5-Amino-1MQ (5-amino-1-methylquinolinium) is not a peptide but is frequently marketed alongside peptides. In the reviewed sources it remains experimental, with no approved human indication and no human clinical efficacy program that could be verified from primary sources.
Metabolic
AOD9604 (Fragment 176-191) is a synthetic analog derived from the C-terminal lipolytic region of human growth hormone, originally explored as an anti-obesity agent. Preclinical work supports adipose-centered lipolysis through β-adrenergic signaling, but human efficacy data have been inconsistent across development programs.
Skin & Hair
Biopeptide EL is best documented as palmitoyl hexapeptide-12, the palmitoylated elastin fragment Pal-VGVAPG, used as a topical "matrikine" ingredient. It is a distinct molecule from Tripeptide-1 / GHK.
Other Research Peptides
Cardiogen is a synthetic tetrapeptide (Ala-Glu-Asp-Arg, AEDR) typically described in patents as a myocardium-restoring peptide. The retrieved literature is almost entirely preclinical — rodent tissue and cultured cells — with no defined receptor and no modern clinical development.
Immune Modulation
Chonluten (T-34) is a Khavinson tripeptide bioregulator with the sequence Glu-Asp-Gly, originally derived from bronchial epithelial cell studies. The retrieved evidence is narrow and almost entirely in vitro, focused on monocyte/macrophage inflammatory signaling.
Growth Hormone Secretagogues
CJC-1295 DAC is a modified GHRH(1-29) analog engineered with a Drug Affinity Complex that covalently binds serum albumin after injection, extending its half-life to roughly 6–8 days. The retrieved literature includes randomized placebo-controlled ascending-dose trials in healthy humans showing sustained GH and IGF-1 elevation with preserved pulsatility.
Skin & Hair
Decapeptide-12 is a synthetic 10-amino-acid skin-brightening peptide (commercialized as Lumixyl) that acts as a competitive tyrosinase inhibitor with low melanocyte cytotoxicity in reported assays. Small uncontrolled or split-face clinical studies in melasma and photodamage show modest brightening with a favorable irritation profile relative to hydroquinone.
Cognitive & Nootropic
Dihexa is a synthetic angiotensin IV (AngIV) analogue reported to be orally active and able to penetrate the blood-brain barrier. The accessed literature does not provide evidence of approved human use and does not identify a human clinical development dataset; evidence status is therefore best described as preclinical.
Mood & Stress
Delta sleep-inducing peptide (DSIP) is a nonapeptide first described in the 1970s with the sequence Trp-Ala-Gly-Gly-Asp-Ala-Ser-Gly-Glu. Reviews still describe it as "a still unresolved riddle": the endogenous precursor is unknown, the receptor system is undefined, and the physiological role is incompletely established despite decades of work.
Longevity
Epithalon (Epitalon, AEDG) is a synthetic tetrapeptide developed as a defined analog related to epithalamin, a pineal polypeptide preparation. The compound is best known in the Khavinson gerontology literature; modern independent human trial evidence is sparse, and the strongest data remain cellular.
Other Research Peptides
Follistatin-344 is the 344-amino-acid precursor form of follistatin, a secreted glycoprotein. In human translational work it is most often encountered as an AAV-delivered transgene (AAV1.CMV.huFollistatin344), not as an injectable peptide — a distinction that materially affects how mechanism, dosing, and safety should be interpreted.
Longevity
FOXO4-DRI is a designed D-retro-inverso peptide built from the FOXO4 interaction surface and engineered to disrupt the FOXO4–p53 axis specifically in senescent cells. It is a research-stage senolytic with no human clinical trials in the retrieved literature.
Healing & Repair
GHK Basic is the free tripeptide Gly-His-Lys, an endogenous copper-binding peptide found in human tissues and plasma. Its defining feature is high-affinity binding of Cu(II), and most of its biology is interpreted through that copper-delivery behavior and its more heavily studied complex, GHK-Cu.
Healing & Repair
GHK-Cu is the copper(II) complex of GHK and is the best-studied member of the GHK family. It is the form with the strongest mechanistic data for fibroblast activation, wound repair, and skin-remodeling biology.
Growth Hormone Secretagogues
GHRP-2 is a synthetic growth hormone secretagogue and ghrelin receptor agonist. The retrieved literature treats it primarily as a tool for studying GH secretion, appetite regulation, and growth physiology rather than as an established therapeutic drug.
Growth Hormone Secretagogues
GHRP-6 is a synthetic GH secretagogue hexapeptide (His-D-Trp-Ala-Trp-D-Phe-Lys-NH2, MW 872.44 Da). In humans it is concentrated in endocrine challenge tests, diagnostic protocols, and mechanistic studies — particularly as part of the GHRH/GHRP-6 test for adult GH deficiency — rather than in therapeutic outcome trials.
Sexual Health
Gonadorelin is the native decapeptide gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). Among the compounds in this report it has the clearest human efficacy track record, because pulsatile dosing directly replaces deficient hypothalamic GnRH in selected patients, most notably women with hypothalamic amenorrhea.
Growth Hormone Secretagogues
Hexarelin is a potent synthetic growth-hormone secretagogue. Relative to ipamorelin it is less selective: it reliably stimulates GH but also stimulates prolactin, ACTH, and cortisol, giving it a stronger pharmacodynamic footprint and a rougher endocrine side-effect profile.
Sexual Health
Human chorionic gonadotropin is a placental polypeptide hormone composed of α and β subunits. In the reviewed U.S. label, urinary-derived hCG products are FDA-approved for prepubertal cryptorchidism not due to anatomical obstruction, selected cases of male hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, and induction of ovulation and pregnancy in appropriately pretreated infertile women. The label explicitly states that hCG is not effective adjunctive therapy for obesity.
Growth Hormone Secretagogues
"Human growth hormone" in modern therapeutics refers to recombinant somatropin. Approved somatropin products such as Omnitrope cover pediatric growth hormone deficiency, Prader–Willi syndrome, small-for-gestational-age children, Turner syndrome, idiopathic short stature, and adult growth hormone deficiency. It is one of the most well-characterized peptide hormone therapies in modern endocrinology.
Longevity
Humanin is a small endogenous mitochondrial-derived peptide with a remarkable preclinical portfolio in apoptosis resistance, neuroprotection, metabolic regulation, and ischemia-reperfusion injury. Translated human clinical evidence remains very limited.
Growth Hormone Secretagogues
IGF-1 LR3 is a synthetic 83-amino-acid analog of IGF-1 with an arginine substitution at position 3 plus a 13-amino-acid N-terminal extension. It is predominantly a research reagent; the retrieved literature did not identify a substantial clinical efficacy program in humans specific to LR3.
Metabolic
"Insulin" is a drug class, not one marketed compound. There are multiple human insulins and engineered analogs, with formulation-specific kinetics, dosing, and storage rules. The hormone is essential for survival in type 1 diabetes and a core escalation step in type 2 diabetes. Representative regular human insulin labels (Humulin R, Novolin R) anchor the safety and pharmacology summary here.
Growth Hormone Secretagogues
Ipamorelin is a synthetic pentapeptide developed as a selective growth-hormone secretagogue. Its main pharmacologic attraction relative to hexarelin is selectivity: it stimulates GH cleanly and, in profiling work, does not materially raise ACTH or cortisol.