AOD-9604 versus full human growth hormone
Every row cites its source. Where a cell reflects our own reading of the evidence rather than an external source, the row says so.
AOD-9604 is 16 of growth hormone's 191 amino acids. The marketing claim is that this fragment carries the fat-burning half of the hormone and leaves the rest behind. Here is what the published work actually establishes about each side of that claim.
| Dimension | AOD-9604 (Tyr-hGH 177-191) | Human growth hormone (somatropin) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A synthetic 16-amino-acid peptide: growth hormone residues 177 to 191, disulfide-bridged, with an extra tyrosine added at the N-terminus to stabilize it | A 191-amino-acid single-chain polypeptide secreted by the pituitary gland | source |
| Growth hormone receptor binding | Does not compete for the hGH receptor, and does not induce cell proliferation through it, in transfected-cell assays | Binds and activates the hGH receptor, triggering tissue-specific signalling cascades | source |
| IGF-1 response | No significant IGF-1 change in any human trial, including 12 and 24 weeks of daily dosing (p = 0.50844 and p = 0.75754) | Raises IGF-1; in the liver, growth hormone induces IGF-1 secretion, and prolonged elevation is the basis of long-term risk concerns | source |
| Effect on glucose control | No significant oral glucose tolerance test changes in the human trials; in obese rodents, no insulin resistance by euglycemic clamp | Long-term treatment is associated with glucose intolerance, insulin resistance and diabetes | source |
| The fragment's own older literature | The same C-terminal sequence caused significant hyperglycaemia and insulin resistance in normal rats at nanomolar doses in 1982 work, and in 1993 showed antilipogenic but no significant lipolytic activity by glycerol release | Insulin-antagonistic and lipolytic effects are both established properties of the intact hormone | source |
| Human weight-loss evidence | One 12-week and one 24-week randomized trial in obesity. The 24-week trial in 502 randomized patients failed its primary weight-loss endpoint; the 12-week trial's efficacy result was never published | Reduces body fat mass and changes fat distribution when given systemically, an effect documented in the endocrine literature | source |
| Regulatory status | No approved product anywhere; nomination for compounding withdrawn, and FDA lists it among substances that may present significant safety risks | 12 approved applications for somatropin products in the FDA's Drugs@FDA database, each with an approved label and defined indications | source |
| Half-life | Not determinable from the posted human IV data; about 3 minutes IV in pigs | Plasma half-life about 21 minutes, as cited in the same sponsor-authored kinetics paper | source |
| Anti-doping | Prohibited at all times under WADA S2.2.3 as a growth hormone fragment, and it does not register on the WADA hGH isoform immunoassay, so dedicated peptide assays are used | Prohibited at all times under WADA S2.2 as growth hormone, and detected by the isoform immunoassay | source |