Peptide Education

Plain, sourced explainers on the peptides and GLP-1 drugs your patients ask about: what each one is, what the human evidence shows, what FDA has said, and where it stands legally in the US. For current regulatory status by compound, use the peptide status tracker. For what changed this week, read the peptide news and analysis.

On this page: Start here · GLP-1s and the next obesity drugs · Growth hormone secretagogues · Healing and regenerative peptides · Longevity and mitochondria · Skin and aesthetics · Brain, mood and sexual health · Quality, sourcing and safety · FDA and the regulatory debate · International: Panama and Latin America

Start here

• The peptide universe: a guide for physicians
• A century of peptide therapeutics, from insulin to semaglutide
• The peptide industry by the numbers: two molecules carry two companies
• The other side: why doctors and patients defend peptides

GLP-1s and the next obesity drugs

• Retatrutide in phase 3, and the gray market that got there first
• Tirzepatide and the GIP paradox: why an ‘obesogenic’ hormone worked
• Cagrilintide and amylin: the other satiety hormone
• After semaglutide: CagriSema, orforglipron, MariTide and the estimand trap
• GLP-1s beyond weight: the hard-outcome trials
• GLP-1s and muscle, rebound, eyes and pancreas: what the data say
• GLP-1s and thyroid cancer: from rat C-cells to Nordic registries
• GLP-1s and the brain: Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and mood
• GLP-1s, sedation and fasting: the aspiration risk and the 2024 reversal
• GLP-1s: interactions, bone, micronutrients and the microdosing fad
• Tirzepatide, the birth control pill and unplanned pregnancies
• Semaglutide and alcohol: three trials and a warning removed
• GLP-1 face: what the studies show and what you can offer
• Compounded GLP-1s: salts, impurities and antibodies

Growth hormone secretagogues

• CJC-1295, ipamorelin and MK-677: the GH and IGF-1 debate
• Sermorelin: the GHRH fragment that was an approved drug
• Tesamorelin: the GHRH analog that did clear the FDA
• CJC-1295 and DAC: the GHRH analog that anchors to albumin
• Ipamorelin: the selective GH secretagogue and its only trial
• GHRP-6, GHRP-2 and ghrelin: when pharmacology discovered a hormone
• IGF-1 LR3 and mecasermin: the lab analog and the approved drug
• AOD-9604: the GH fragment that was meant to burn fat

Healing and regenerative peptides

• BPC-157: from Rogan’s podcast to an FDA committee vote
• BPC-157 in the laboratory: tendon, gut and blood vessels
• TB-500 is not thymosin beta-4: fragment vs protein
• GLOW, KLOW and Wolverine peptide blends: what the evidence shows
• Thymosin alpha-1 after TESTS: two large negative trials
• LL-37 and antimicrobial peptides: the body’s answer to resistance
• Stem cells and peptides: the double standard in how we judge them

Longevity and mitochondria

• Epitalon, MOTS-c, NAD+ and SS-31: longevity promise vs. proof
• Epitalon: Khavinson’s program, telomerase and the replication gap
• MOTS-c and mitochondrial peptides: where the evidence ends
• SS-31 (elamipretide): the mitochondrial peptide that reached FDA
• NAD+ in humans: precursors, infusions and what the trials measure
• 5-amino-1MQ: what the NNMT inhibitor does and where the evidence ends

Skin and aesthetics

• GHK-Cu: four decades of papers, few trials
• GHK-Cu copper peptide: the mechanism of action, step by step
• Peptides and skin healing after laser, microneedling and surgery
• SNAP-8 and argireline: ‘topical Botox’ under the microscope
• Melasma and peptides: what lightens, what darkens, what is proven
• Glutathione for skin lightening: what the trials show
• Oral collagen: the peptide your patients already take
• Regenerative aesthetics in New York and Beverly Hills: the evidence

Brain, mood and sexual health

• Semax, selank and DSIP: the evidence behind the nootropic peptides
• Intranasal oxytocin: anatomy of a replication crisis
• Kisspeptin: real science, studied in a different molecule
• PT-141 in men: a central mechanism upstream of the vascular pathway
• Melanotan II and PT-141: chemical cousins, opposite stories

Quality, sourcing and safety

• What is in the peptide vial: what lab tests found
• How to read a peptide certificate of analysis
• Peptide stability: from lyophilized powder to reconstituted vial
• RAADfest: two women in critical care after peptide injections
• BPC-157 and athletes: what doping cases teach prescribers

FDA and the regulatory debate

• What FDA said about peptides in the July 2026 committee documents

International: Panama and Latin America

• Semaglutide for weight loss in Panama: why US clinics should watch
• Fake Ozempic and Mounjaro: what Panama’s MINSA flagged
• Panama’s peptide law for physicians, and why US clinics should care
• Panama Law 491, IV drips and mycobacteria: lessons for US clinics
• Stem cells in Panama: what happened, and why US clinics should care
• Peptides on Instagram: what Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico flagged

How these articles are written

Every clinical claim cites a peer-reviewed paper with its PubMed ID or an official source, and each article says plainly where the human evidence ends. Articles report the criticism and the supporters’ case. None of them gives dosing, and none is a recommendation to use a compound that has no lawful pathway in the US. Our editorial standards.

This is general information, not medical or legal advice. Rules vary by state and change. Confirm your own facts with counsel.