Research
AOD-9604
A synthetic peptide corresponding to residues 176–191 of human growth hormone — the C-terminal fragment associated with its effects on fat metabolism.
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.
What is being investigated
Directions the published work points at, and how far each has actually got. These are open questions, not established effects: most of what looks promising in cells does not replicate in animals, and most of what works in animals does not work in people. Nothing here is a claim about what this compound does for anyone.
- Fat metabolism without growth hormone's other effects
The finding the fragment exists for: in mice its lipolytic effect persisted without the standard growth hormone receptor, and it did not produce the growth-promoting or insulin-related actions of the full hormone.
Animal studies
- Obesity in humans
Taken into randomised human trials, where it did not separate meaningfully from placebo on weight. That is the reason its development as an obesity treatment stopped, and it is the most important thing on this page.
Human trials Did not work
- Cartilage and osteoarthritis
The direction the molecule was redirected into after the obesity work, on a mechanism unrelated to fat metabolism. Early-stage, and nothing conclusive has been published.
Proposed from mechanism
Published research
Every reference below was checked against the published record before being listed, with the model each study used.
- Heffernan et al. (2001)Endocrinology · 142(12):5182–9
Compared human growth hormone against its lipolytic fragment after chronic treatment, reporting reduced body weight and fat in both, with fat loss correlating to β3-AR expression.
obese mice and β3-adrenergic-receptor knockout mice Source
Further reading
Longer articles on handling, analysis and what the published work reports.
- AOD-9604 (hGH 176-191): what the research says
A growth hormone fragment designed to keep the fat-metabolism activity and drop the rest. The rodent work, and what happened to the clinical programme.
- 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.
- Peptide shelf life and stability
How long lyophilised and reconstituted peptides keep, and the four things that shorten it: temperature, moisture, light and oxidation. Storage figures included.
- How to reconstitute lyophilised peptides
How to reconstitute a lyophilised peptide with bacteriostatic water without damaging it: why you run the liquid down the vial wall and never shake it.