Yes — a long-established prescription medicine in fertility treatment, with decades of clinical use. Material supplied here as a research reagent is not that authorised product.

It binds the LH receptor and, because its clearance is slow, stimulates it for far longer than luteinising hormone does. In the gonads that means sustained stimulation of the cells that produce sex steroids.

Why is hCG associated with weight loss?

Because of a diet protocol popularised in the mid-twentieth century. The controlled literature examined the claim and did not support it, and that is one of the better-established negative results attached to any compound in this catalogue.

Is hCG the same as hMG?

No. hCG supplies LH-receptor activity. hMG is a urine-derived preparation containing both FSH and LH activity. They are used together in some protocols precisely because they are not interchangeable.

Research guides

HCG chorionic gonadotropin: what the research says

A long-established fertility medicine, and a literature that is almost entirely about treating diagnosed endocrine deficiency. Not about weight loss.

Available in the catalogue

Supplied as research material. Sizes and pricing are on the product page. Availability is not a statement about what a compound does.

HCG
Hormonal & Reproductive

HCG is not a research chemical. It is a hormone that has been used as a prescription medicine in fertility treatment for decades, with a correspondingly large clinical literature, and the useful question about it is not whether it has been studied but what the studies were about.

What the molecule is

A glycoprotein hormone of two subunits, produced by the placenta during pregnancy. Its alpha subunit is shared with luteinising hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone and thyroid-stimulating hormone; the beta subunit is what makes it distinct, and what pregnancy tests detect.

Why it behaves like a long-acting LH

It binds the LH receptor, and does so for considerably longer than LH itself because heavy glycosylation slows its clearance. In the gonads that means sustained stimulation of the cells producing sex steroids. That single property explains both its use in fertility medicine and why it appears in endocrine research on the gonadal axis.

What the trials are about

The randomised evidence concerns fertility: gonadotropin therapy in hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, induction of spermatogenesis, and ovarian stimulation protocols. Recent trials and meta-analyses have compared combined gonadotropin regimens against alternatives and against pulsatile GnRH. These are studies of treating a defined endocrine deficiency in patients diagnosed with it.

That is a real and substantial evidence base. It is also specifically about restoring function in people whose axis is not working, which is a different question from what the hormone does in an axis that is.

What studies reported

Each entry states what a study examined and the model it used. Nothing below describes an outcome for a person.

Everything below is drawn from published research, and each entry names the model the study used. Approval status varies by compound and by country, and nothing described here is supplied as a medicine or for use in a person.

Chandra et al. (2026)Frontiers in Reproductive Health · 8:1867412
Tested gonadotropin therapy in idiopathic hypogonadal non-obstructive azoospermia, reporting outcomes across the APHRODITE patient groups.
human, multicentre randomised controlled trial Source
Huijben et al. (2026)Andrology
Pooled the published evidence on gonadotropin therapy in hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and its effect on male fertility outcomes.
human, systematic review and meta-analysis Source
Singhania et al. (2024)Endocrine Practice · 30(10):978–86
Compared a combined low-dose gonadotropin and testosterone regimen against a conventional higher-dose regimen in hypogonadal men.
human, comparative clinical study Source
Zheng et al. (2025)Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology · 23(1):46
Compared spermatogenesis outcomes between pulsatile GnRH and combined gonadotropin therapy in congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism.
human, comparative clinical study Source

Adverse and null findings reported

No dedicated safety study has been published for this compound. That is not a finding that none exists — it means the question has not been asked in print, and the gaps below say so.

What the research does not establish

An absence cannot be cited, so these are stated plainly. They are the part of the picture that silence would otherwise hide.

The `adverse` list is empty because hCG is an authorised prescription medicine whose adverse effect profile is stated in full on its regulatory label. That document, not this page, is the complete account — reproducing a partial version here would read as exhaustive and would not be.
Essentially the entire randomised literature concerns fertility treatment in patients with a diagnosed deficiency. No trial supports reading those findings across to anyone else.
The weight-loss protocol the hormone became publicly associated with has been examined and is not supported by the controlled literature; that is a well-established negative and remains the most common misdescription of the compound.
Preparations differ. Material extracted from urine and recombinant choriogonadotropin alfa are not identical products, and a trial of one is not automatically evidence about the other.
It is supplied here as a laboratory reagent. Research-grade material is not the authorised medicine and carries none of the regulatory guarantees that the clinical evidence was generated with.

Common questions

Is hCG a medicine?: Yes — a long-established prescription medicine in fertility treatment, with decades of clinical use. Material supplied here as a research reagent is not that authorised product.
What does hCG do?: It binds the LH receptor and, because its clearance is slow, stimulates it for far longer than luteinising hormone does. In the gonads that means sustained stimulation of the cells that produce sex steroids.
What do the hCG trials actually study?: Fertility. Gonadotropin therapy in hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, induction of spermatogenesis, and ovarian stimulation — all in patients diagnosed with a specific endocrine deficiency.
Why is hCG associated with weight loss?: Because of a diet protocol popularised in the mid-twentieth century. The controlled literature examined the claim and did not support it, and that is one of the better-established negative results attached to any compound in this catalogue.
Is hCG the same as hMG?: No. hCG supplies LH-receptor activity. hMG is a urine-derived preparation containing both FSH and LH activity. They are used together in some protocols precisely because they are not interchangeable.

Compounds covered

The reference page for each compound this article discusses.

HMG (menotropins): what the research says
A urine-derived preparation carrying both FSH and LH activity. What the long-running head-to-head trials against recombinant FSH actually found.
Oxytocin: what the research says
A settled obstetric medicine with a behavioural literature that became one of psychology's clearest replication problems. Both halves belong together.
How to store research peptides
Lyophilised peptides at -20°C, reconstituted at 2–8°C, ambient in transit. Why the dry cake tolerates shipping, and what actually degrades a vial.

About this article

Everything reported here comes from published research, and each finding names the model the study used — cell culture, rat, or human. Findings in one model do not transfer to another, most of the work described is preclinical, and none of it is a claim that a compound is safe or effective for any purpose. Nothing on this page describes doses, routes of administration, or use in a person.

Approval status varies by compound and by country. A few of the substances described are the active ingredient of medicines authorised in the EU; most have no marketing authorisation anywhere and have never been assessed by a regulator. Neither is supplied as a medicine here. All material supplied by ASSAY is sold for in-vitro laboratory research only, and is not a drug, food, cosmetic or medical device, and not for human or veterinary use.

All guides