Peptide research, without the hype.
Thirty-five deep guides to the peptides and GLP-1 medications people actually search for — what the published trials found, what the evidence does not support, and where each compound stands with regulators. Every claim links to its source on PubMed.
How to read these guides
Most peptide content online falls into one of two traps: it either sells you something, or it repeats a claim that traces back to a mouse study from 2003. These guides are built to avoid both.
Each article separates four very different things that peptide marketing routinely blurs together: FDA-approved drugs with phase 3 trial programs behind them; investigational drugs still in trials and not legally sold to consumers; compounded or off-label prescriptions; and unapproved research chemicals sold online with animal-only data and no purity oversight. Semaglutide and BPC-157 both get called "peptides" — they are not in the same universe of evidence.
Where the human evidence is thin, we say so. Where a trial reported a number, we give the number, the trial, and the link. And nowhere on this site will you find a dose, a protocol, or a cycle — that is a conversation for you and a clinician, not a website.
GLP-1 & metabolic peptides
The best-evidenced corner of the field. These are prescription medications with large randomized trials, real cardiovascular-outcome data, and well-characterized side effects — plus the investigational next generation.
GLP-1 agonists explained
The whole drug class in one place: how GLP-1 signaling works, every agent from exenatide to retatrutide, what the outcome trials showed, and the class-wide warnings.
Read the guide → Pillar guidePeptides for weight loss
An honest evidence tier list — which weight-loss peptides have phase 3 trials behind them, and which are sold online on the strength of animal data alone.
Read the guide → InvestigationalRetatrutide
The triple GIP/GLP-1/glucagon agonist behind the biggest phase 2 weight-loss numbers yet recorded — and why it is still not something you can legally buy.
Read the guide → FDA approvedTirzepatide
SURMOUNT-1, SURPASS, and the head-to-head that put it ahead of semaglutide — plus side effects and what happens when people stop.
Read the guide → FDA approvedSemaglutide
The STEP program, the SELECT cardiovascular results, the weight regain data after withdrawal, and the compounded-semaglutide mess.
Read the guide → FDA approvedOzempic
What Ozempic is approved for, why so many people take it off-label for weight, and how it differs from Wegovy despite being the same molecule.
Read the guide → FDA approvedWegovy
Semaglutide 2.4 mg for chronic weight management — trial results, eligibility, the cardiovascular indication, and the cost reality.
Read the guide → FDA approvedMounjaro
Tirzepatide under its diabetes brand: the SURPASS trials, how dual GIP+GLP-1 differs from GLP-1 alone, and approval status by region.
Read the guide → FDA approvedLiraglutide
The daily GLP-1 that started the modern weight-management era, what SCALE actually showed, and why weekly agents overtook it.
Read the guide → InvestigationalCagrilintide
The long-acting amylin analog and the CagriSema combination — a different satiety pathway, and what the phase 3 data looked like.
Read the guide → Weak evidenceAOD9604
The growth-hormone fragment marketed as a fat burner. The animal lipolysis data is real; the human weight-loss evidence is not what the ads imply.
Read the guide →Repair & recovery peptides
The most hyped category online and the thinnest in human trials. These guides lay out exactly what the preclinical work shows and where the clinical evidence stops.
BPC-157
Hundreds of animal studies on tendon, gut and nerve healing — and effectively zero published human RCTs. Plus its FDA and WADA status.
Read the guide → PreclinicalTB-500
What TB-500 actually is versus real thymosin beta-4, the actin-binding mechanism, and why athletes should know it is on the prohibited list.
Read the guide → Topical evidenceGHK-Cu
The copper tripeptide with a genuine cosmetic-science evidence base — and a much weaker one behind the injectable claims.
Read the guide →Growth-hormone axis peptides
Secretagogues and GHRH analogs sold widely by anti-aging clinics. One of them is FDA approved for a narrow indication; the rest are not approved for anything.
Ipamorelin
The selective growth-hormone secretagogue: what the original selectivity research showed, and why it has no approved human indication.
Read the guide → Not approvedCJC-1295
The DAC vs no-DAC distinction most articles get wrong, the human pharmacology data, and its FDA compounding status.
Read the guide → CompoundedSermorelin
Once FDA approved as Geref, withdrawn for commercial reasons, now everywhere in anti-aging clinics. What the real clinical evidence covers.
Read the guide → FDA approvedTesamorelin
The one GHRH analog with an FDA approval — for HIV-associated visceral fat. Why its evidence base dwarfs the rest of the category.
Read the guide →Brain, longevity & cellular peptides
Nootropic and anti-aging compounds, several approved in Russia but nowhere else, and several whose entire reputation rests on cell-line work.
Semax
The ACTH(4-10) analog used clinically for stroke in Russia, the BDNF research behind it, and the study-quality caveats worth knowing.
Read the guide → Approved in RussiaSelank
A tuftsin-derived anxiolytic compared head-to-head with a benzodiazepine — and the limits of that evidence base outside Russia.
Read the guide → Weak evidenceEpitalon
Telomeres, telomerase, and the contested lifespan studies — including the mouse experiment that found no life-span effect at all.
Read the guide → PreclinicalMOTS-c
The mitochondrial-derived peptide sold as an exercise mimetic. What the AMPK research shows and what the human data does not.
Read the guide → SupplementNAD+
Not a peptide — but searched alongside them constantly. What NR and NMN trials actually measured, and the FDA's position on NMN.
Read the guide → InvestigationalSS-31 / elamipretide
The cardiolipin-binding mitochondrial peptide with a real clinical program — and a trial record that is more mixed than the marketing suggests.
Read the guide →Other high-demand peptides
Three compounds that generate enormous search volume for very different reasons — one approved by the FDA, one immunomodulator approved abroad, and one with a documented harm record.
PT-141 (bremelanotide)
Approved as Vyleesi for HSDD in premenopausal women. The RECONNECT trial effect size, side effects, and the unapproved male market.
Read the guide → Documented harmsMelanotan 2
The illegal tanning peptide with published case reports of changing moles, melanoma, rhabdomyolysis and priapism. Read before anything else.
Read the guide → Approved abroadThymosin alpha-1
An immunomodulator approved in dozens of countries outside the US, with sepsis meta-analyses and antiviral research behind it.
Read the guide →Head-to-head comparisons
The direct comparisons people search before a clinic appointment — built on head-to-head trials where they exist, and explicit about when they do not.
Tirzepatide vs semaglutide
The only large randomized comparison of the two leading weight-loss drugs, plus the glycemic head-to-head and the cost trade-off.
Compare → Same moleculeOzempic vs Wegovy
Identical drug, different brand, dose ceiling and indication. Which one gets covered, which gets prescribed off-label, and why it matters.
Compare → Head-to-head trialMounjaro vs Ozempic
Dual agonist against single agonist under their diabetes brands — A1c, weight, side effects and coverage.
Compare → Cross-trialRetatrutide vs tirzepatide
Triple versus dual agonist. The phase 2 numbers, why comparing across trials is unreliable, and where the approval gap stands.
Compare → Preclinical bothBPC-157 vs TB-500
The two most-searched healing peptides side by side: different mechanisms, the same missing human trials, the same regulatory problems.
Compare →Practical guides
The questions that come after the research: what the law says, why clinicians care about site rotation, and how to keep a record you can actually hand to a doctor.
Are peptides legal?
FDA approval vs compounding vs "research use only" vs the WADA list — the regulatory map, jurisdiction by jurisdiction.
Read the guide → Clinical backgroundPeptide injection sites
Why site rotation is studied at all, what the lipohypertrophy literature shows, and how people keep rotation records between appointments.
Read the guide → PracticalHow to track peptides
Weekly cadences, titration dates, side-effect timing. What adherence research says about reminders, and how to build a record worth keeping.
Read the guide →Frequently asked questions
Does PepMate recommend or prescribe peptides?
No. PepMate is a tracking and reminder app, and these research pages are educational summaries of published literature. Nothing here diagnoses, prescribes, recommends a peptide, or provides dosing. Decisions about any medication belong to you and your licensed clinician.
Where do the facts in these articles come from?
Every article cites peer-reviewed studies indexed on PubMed, plus regulator records where approval status matters. Each page ends with a numbered source list linking directly to the original abstracts so you can check any claim yourself.
Which peptides actually have strong human evidence?
The GLP-1 class has by far the strongest human trial base: semaglutide, tirzepatide and liraglutide all have large randomized phase 3 programs. Retatrutide and cagrilintide are investigational with phase 2 or phase 3 data. Repair and longevity peptides such as BPC-157, TB-500, epitalon and MOTS-c rest largely on animal and cell research, with little or no controlled human efficacy data.
Are these guides updated?
Yes. Each article carries a last-updated date and is revised when major trial results, approvals, or regulatory changes land — the peptide and GLP-1 field moves quickly, and outdated approval status is the most common error on peptide sites.
Looking for shorter answers instead? The Peptide Q&A covers 62 quick questions, each with its own PubMed source, and mirrors the Learn tab inside the app.
Reading about it is step one. Tracking it is step two.
PepMate turns a regimen you're trying to remember into one you can actually see — doses, reminders, injection-site rotation, and notes, all on your device.
- ✅ Build your stack from a 16-entry starter library or add custom medications
- ✅ Weekly and daily reminders that survive a busy week
- ✅ Injection-site rotation notes so you stop guessing where you went last
- ✅ Log meals, workouts and steps, with optional read-only Apple Health import
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