Important limitations
- Safety Profile: Clinical observations and risk mitigation insights
hGH Fragment 176-191
HGH Fragment 176-191 is a synthetic fragment derived from natural human growth hormone (hGH).
Dosing & scaling, explained
The moderated mass amounts below are retained for comparison. Near-duplicates, mix-dependent volumes and device markings are excluded. This is educational source context, not a protocol or recommendation.
Mass amounts available for comparison
- Lower range0.5 mgWeeks 1-4
Recorded example with no verified study backing; shown for amount literacy only.
- Mid range10 mgWeeks 5-15
Recorded example with no verified study backing; shown for amount literacy only.
Only mcg or mg amounts are retained. The calculator derives mL, syringe units or pen clicks from the current vial strength, water volume and device.
No independently verified schedule
Evidence context
No clinical amount or schedule is inferred from this material. Source verification is pending, and every displayed amount remains educational context rather than guidance.
Storage, handling and interpretation
Product identity
Verify the exact compound, formulation and amount against the product label or certificate before calculation.
Storage & handling
Follow the product label, certificate and validated laboratory SOP; no universal storage assumption is applied here.
Prepared solutions
Label concentration and preparation date, use sterile technique where applicable, and follow a validated stability protocol.
Reported protocols for hGH Fragment 176-191
What published studies and recent community write-ups report about amounts, timing and course length. 3 clinical, 2 preclinical and 4 community-reported rows, each linked to its source. These are descriptions of what others report, not instructions, and nothing here is medical advice.
| Context | Dose | Frequency | Route | Course | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical3 rows | |||||
| AOD9604 intravenous single-dose safety studies15 healthy men (BMI 24-30) and 23 obese men (BMI 35 or more) | 25-400 mcg/kg (healthy men); 25, 50 or 100 mcg/kg (obese men) | Single doses separated by 7-day washouts | Intravenous infusion over 20 minutes | Single administrationsNot applicable | Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism2013 |
| These were the only injected human doses of the fragment family ever reported, and they were given once, intravenously, to measure safety rather than fat loss. No clinically significant changes in vital signs, ECG, glucose, glycerol or IGF-1 were seen, and headache was the most common complaint. | |||||
| AOD9604 phase 2b 12-week oral obesity trial (METAOD005)300 obese adults with BMI 35 or more | 1, 5, 10, 20 or 30 mg | Once daily | Oral capsules | 12 weeks after a placebo run-inNone | Current Cardiology Reviews (PubMed Central)2013 |
| A later review of obesity drugs reports that the 1 mg group lost an average of 2.6 kg against 0.8 kg on placebo, while the safety paper found adverse events spread evenly across the five dose groups and placebo. Headache and gastrointestinal complaints were the most frequent events and no dose-related laboratory, ECG or IGF-1 changes emerged. | |||||
| AOD9604 phase 2b 24-week oral obesity trial (METAOD006)502 obese adults with BMI 30-45 at 16 Australian centres | 0.25, 0.5 or 1 mg | Once daily | Oral tablets | 24 weeks after a 4-week run-inNone | Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism2013 |
| This was the pivotal trial and it failed to show clinically meaningful weight loss against placebo, after which the sponsor ended the obesity programme in 2007. Glucose tolerance, IGF-1 and antibody testing showed no treatment effect, which is the basis for the compound's later food-ingredient GRAS status rather than any efficacy claim. | |||||
| Preclinical2 rows | |||||
| Oral AOD9604 in obese Zucker ratsObese Zucker rats | 500 mcg/kg | Once daily | Oral | 19 daysNot applicable | Hormone Research (PubMed)2000 |
| Treated rats gained 15.8 g against 35.6 g in controls, a drop of more than half, and their fat tissue showed higher lipolytic activity. Unlike intact GH, the fragment did not impair insulin sensitivity on clamp testing, but this is a 19-day rat study of the tyrosine-modified analog, not of the fragment sold under this name. | |||||
| Intraperitoneal AOD9604 in obese and beta-3 knockout miceob/ob mice, lean controls and beta-3 adrenergic receptor knockout mice | 250 mcg/kg (intact GH comparator 1 mg/kg) | Once daily | Intraperitoneal | 14 daysNot applicable | Endocrinology (PubMed)2001 |
| Both GH and the fragment lowered body weight and fat in obese mice and restored the suppressed beta-3 adrenergic receptor expression in fat tissue. The chronic weight effect disappeared in mice lacking the beta-3 receptor, although an acute rise in fat oxidation persisted, so the mechanism was only partly explained. | |||||
| Community-reported4 rows | |||||
| Research-convention dosing chart | 250-500 mcg | Once or twice daily, usually fasted | Subcutaneous; 5 mg vial in 2 mL gives 2.5 mg/mL, so 250 mcg is 10 units | Not specifiedNot specified | Community resource2026 |
| This vendor-affiliated chart, updated July 2026, gives the unit math for 250, 300, 400 and 500 mcg and states that no validated human dose exists because no pharmacokinetic or efficacy trial of the injectable fragment has been published. It attributes the fasting convention to insulin suppressing lipolysis rather than to any trial. | |||||
| Conservative, standard and aggressive community protocols | 250 mcg once daily (conservative); 250 mcg twice daily (standard); 500 mcg twice daily (aggressive) | Once or twice daily, fasted on waking and before bed, or 20-30 minutes before fasted cardio | Subcutaneous into abdominal fat | 8-12 weeks, ramping over the first 2 weeks4-8 weeks fully off before any repeat | Community resource2026 |
| A May 2026 clinic-site article labels every figure as empirical rather than clinically validated and expects only 1-3 lb of scale change over the first eight weeks even with a diet in place. It warns that vials sold as the fragment are often AOD-9604 and vice versa, and that no controlled trial shows fasted dosing outperforms fed dosing. | |||||
| Evidence review with community dose band | 250-500 mcg (community); 500 mcg/kg oral and 250 mcg/kg intraperitoneal quoted from the rodent studies | 1-2 times daily (community) | Subcutaneous (community); oral and intraperitoneal in the animal work | Not specifiedNot specified | Community resource2026 |
| This March 2026 profile tabulates the published rodent doses and states plainly that no human trial has used the unmodified fragment, so the community band has no scientific basis. It also notes that the fragment is described as rapidly degraded in serum with no formal half-life ever published. | |||||
| Forum-derived amounts recorded by an archive | About 500 mcg per day as one fasted dose or split; some describe 250-350 mcg three times daily | Once to three times daily, spaced several hours apart | Subcutaneous | Not specifiedNot specified | Community resource2026 |
| An archive page reviewed in September 2026 summarises forum threads without quoting them and records 250 and 500 mcg as the amounts people most often report buying for. It stresses that no study has given this fragment to people under this name and that the FDA compounding list flags AOD-9604 for immunogenicity and impurity concerns. | |||||
How a course is commonly described
- Weeks 1-2Community-reported
Community protocols describe starting at 250 mcg once daily, injected fasted in the morning, and moving to 250 mcg twice daily once tolerated. Reports at this stage are limited to transient warmth after dosing, with no visible change.
- Weeks 3-8Community-reported
Maintenance at 250-500 mcg twice daily, with the morning dose often placed before fasted cardio. The clinic-site guide describes small tape or skinfold changes in this window and scale changes of only 1-3 lb, all contingent on a calorie deficit, and a vendor-affiliated chart adds that released fatty acids are simply re-stored unless they are oxidised.
- Weeks 9-12Community-reported
Cycles are described as ending at 8-12 weeks, sometimes with an optional taper over the last two weeks. The same guides say plateaus are common and that there is no continuous dose-response.
- BreakCommunity-reported
A 4-8 week washout is described before any further cycle, with the source admitting there is no pharmacological reason for the interval beyond caution about unknown long-term receptor effects. The fragment's rapid breakdown in serum, noted by an evidence review, means nothing is expected to persist into the break.
- Clinical comparisonClinical
The only multi-week human exposure is to oral AOD9604 tablets at 0.25-1 mg daily for 24 weeks, and to 1-30 mg capsules for 12 weeks, neither of which produced meaningful weight loss. No human study has used the subcutaneous fragment or any injected course longer than a single dose.
- Every multi-week human figure attached to this peptide belongs to AOD9604, a tyrosine-modified oral analog whose pivotal 24-week trial missed its weight-loss endpoint. The injectable unmodified fragment has no human data at all.
- The rodent fat-loss results came from 500 mcg/kg oral or 250 mcg/kg intraperitoneal doses given for 14-19 days by the group that later commercialised the compound, and have not been independently replicated.
- No half-life has been published for the fragment; community guides describe it as rapidly degraded, which is the stated reason for split fasted dosing rather than any pharmacokinetic study.
Sources for this section (8)
- Metabolic studies of a synthetic lipolytic domain (AOD9604) of human growth hormone
- The effects of human GH and its lipolytic fragment (AOD9604) on lipid metabolism following chronic treatment in obese mice and beta(3)-AR knock-out mice
- Safety and Tolerability of the Hexadecapeptide AOD9604 in Humans
- Obesity Pharmacotherapy: Current Perspectives and Future Directions
Plus 4 community resources (dosing guides, forum threads and vendor write-ups), reported above but not linked.
Overview
hGH Fragment 176-191 is the last sixteen amino acids of human growth hormone, a region that Frank Ng's group at Monash University mapped in the 1990s as the part of the hormone responsible for its fat-mobilising activity. The rodent work that is quoted for it was done mostly with AOD9604, a version of the same stretch with a tyrosine added at the N-terminus for stability, which Metabolic Pharmaceuticals then took through six human trials as an oral obesity drug before stopping in 2007 when a 24-week study showed no meaningful weight loss. The unmodified injectable fragment has never been studied in people; it has no approval anywhere, is prohibited by WADA, and is sold only as a research chemical, often with the two sequences mislabelled for one another.
What researchers are exploring
These themes organize the educational information currently available. Individual claims remain under source review and are not treatment claims.
- 1
Research Focus
Key findings in metabolic regulation and energy balance
- 2
Future Directions
Emerging areas of exploration and translational potential
What is known and what still needs verification
Available context is organized without assigning unsupported study models or evidence grades.
- Not graded
Research Focus
Key findings in metabolic regulation and energy balance
- Not graded
Future Directions
Emerging areas of exploration and translational potential
Amounts recorded for hGH Fragment 176-191
These amount records are independent from vial strength, reconstitution volume and measuring device. A recorded source is not the same as study backing, and these values are not recommendations.
- 1Weeks 1-4Sign in for schedule, duration and source context.0.5 mg
- 2Weeks 5-15 · upper endpointSign in for schedule, duration and source context.10 mg
Chemistry identifiers
Sequence, synonyms and registry identifiers as recorded in PubChem, the National Library of Medicine's open chemistry database. Formula, mass and CAS number are summarized at the top of the page.
Sequence
Phe-Leu-Arg-Ile-Val-Gln-Cys-Arg-Ser-Val-Glu-Gly-Ser-Cys-Gly-Phe (Cys182-Cys189 disulfide)
Also listed as
Somatotropin (176-191) (PubChem record title), hGH (176-191), HGH Frag 176-191, HGH Fragment 176-191 trifluoroacetic acid, DTXSID10216216, HGH Fragment 176-191 acetate (separate PubChem record, CID 172966176, 1859.1 g/mol), AOD-9604 (Tyr-hGH 177-191 analog, separate PubChem record, CID 71300630)
InChIKey
LSTCHEVTSMJOCE-YWWHUHEESA-N
IUPAC name
[(2S)-2-[[(2S,3S)-2-[[(2S)-2-[[(2S)-2-[[(2S)-2-amino-3-phenylpropanoyl]amino]-4-methylpentanoyl]amino]-5-carbamimidamidopentanoyl]amino]-3-methylpentanoyl]amino]-3-methylbutanoyl] (4S)-5-[[2-[(2S)-2-[[2-[[(2R)-2-[[(2S)-2-amino-3-hydroxypropanoyl]amino]-3-sulfanylpropanoyl]amino]acetyl]amino]-3-phenylpropanoyl]oxy-2-oxoethyl]amino]-4-[[(2S)-2-[[(2S)-2-[[(2S)-5-carbamimidamido-2-[[(2R)-2-[[(2S)-2,5-diamino-5-oxopentanoyl]amino]-3-sulfanylidenepropanoyl]amino]pentanoyl]amino]-3-hydroxypropanoyl]amino]-3-methylbutanoyl]amino]-5-oxopentanoate
Limitations and unknowns
Sources
1 link carried over from the earlier page, awaiting verification.