SG1002 dosage and evidence
Written by Aaron CuhaReviewed Sep 2026
The short answer
No results in people for ageing. Hydrogen sulfide is needed for eating less to extend life in several species, so a pill that releases it was an unusually good bet. In mice, it failed at three different starting ages.
Evidence grade for SG1002: Animal or lab only. The rule: only animal or lab studies on this page. No study in people yet. The sum on this page: 1 animal study, no human study. A grade counts how much has been done to people, not whether it works.
- People given it
- 0
- Human studies
- 0
- Found nothing
- 0
Dose
No human dose established
No published study on this page has given this compound to people and reported a result.
1 animal study, no human study
1 effects reported, 1 unwanted, by people using it, not a trial
Goal pages: Ageing and longevity
In plain English
In plain English, from Aaron
This is how I would explain it to a friend. The evidence, with the numbers, is further down the page.
SG1002 is a test pill that releases hydrogen sulfide, a gas the body uses as a signal. It was made for heart failure. It is not approved for anything.
What people take it for
- Getting the benefits of eating less, without eating less.
- Heart failure, its first target.
What studies in people showed
There are no results in people for ageing. It was studied early on in heart failure. Now animals. Hydrogen sulfide is needed for eating less to extend life in yeast, worms, flies and mice. But giving it as a pill did not make mice live longer. It failed at three different starting ages.
What people report
Reports, not study results
The good
- We have not collected user reports on this one yet.
The bad
- No human study on this page reports its side effects.
Where these come from: No human results or user reports on this page.
My bottom line
The best idea in the batch, and it still failed. If you want what eating less does, eat less. A pill did not copy it.
An opinion, not a finding. I am a coach, not a doctor.
What it has been measured to do
Animal and lab work, not yet tested in people
Real results, but from animals or cells, not people. What works in a mouse often does not work the same way in a person. Nobody can patent this, so nobody would ever earn back the cost of a study in people. That is usually why there is none. The record on this one is set out below.
- Living longer1 animal or lab study
35 of the 36 indexed goals have no study of any kind behind SG1002
No study in people, animals or cells on this page reports a result for these. That does not prove SG1002 does nothing for them. It does mean anything you have heard about SG1002 and one of these did not come from a study cited here.
Show full evidence
What is SG1002?
No results in people for ageing. Hydrogen sulfide is needed for eating less to extend life in several species, so a pill that releases it was an unusually good bet. In mice, it failed at three different starting ages.
The case for testing this was among the strongest in the whole program. Hydrogen sulfide is a gas the body uses as a signal. Work in yeast, worms, flies and mice found it is needed for the longer life and stress resistance that come from eating less. Cutting protein or methionine (an amino acid) makes the body produce more hydrogen sulfide. Blocking that production wipes out the benefit. If one molecule carried the effect of eating less, this was the top pick.
SG1002 is a pill that turns into hydrogen sulfide in the body. It was developed for heart failure.
The mouse lifespan program tested it and found no clear gain in lifespan in either sex. The program's records note it was tested at three different starting ages. That matters, because a common excuse for a failed test is that treatment started too late.
How does SG1002 work?
SG1002 is a pill that releases hydrogen sulfide once absorbed, raising sulfide and thiosulfate in the blood. Hydrogen sulfide mostly works by sticking an extra sulfur onto certain proteins, which changes what they do. The effects that follow include wider blood vessels, changes in mitochondria, a switched-on NRF2 antioxidant response and better blood vessel lining. The body makes its own hydrogen sulfide with two enzymes (CSE and CBS). Those are the enzymes that ramp up when you cut methionine or protein.
What have studies in people found about SG1002?
Early work in people with heart failure. No ageing results and no data on lifespan or healthy years in people.
- Developed and studied as a hydrogen sulfide pill for heart failure, where the body's own sulfide runs low.
- We found no published human result on ageing, healthy years or lifespan.
- The case for how it would work rests on animal and worm work showing hydrogen sulfide is needed for the benefits of eating less.
What this does not tell you: The human record is small and about heart failure, not ageing. The lifespan failure is in mice. It was tested at three starting ages and failed at all of them. So the usual excuse, that treatment began too late, does not apply. That makes this failure stronger than most.
The state of the research
This is the most telling failure in the batch, because the idea behind it was the best. Hydrogen sulfide is not a guess. It has been shown to be needed for eating less to extend lifespan in several species. The obvious next thought was that supplying it directly might copy some of those effects.
It did not, at three separate starting ages. The likely reason is the usual one. A signal being needed for something to work does not mean supplying the signal copies it. Eating less changes hundreds of things at once. Hydrogen sulfide being one needed link in the chain says nothing about whether it is enough on its own. That difference, needed versus enough, explains a big share of failed longevity supplements.
The National Institute on Aging runs the Interventions Testing Program at three separate labs: The Jackson Laboratory, the University of Michigan and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. It uses UM-HET3 mice, a mixed breed made by crossing four strains, so a result cannot be a quirk of one strain. Compounds go in the food. Both sexes are tested. Each group is big enough to spot about a 10 percent change in lifespan. Results are checked with one test for typical lifespan and another for the longest-lived mice. The failures are published next to the wins. No other ageing research has all of that together. That is why a no from this program means much more than a no from one lab.
The evidence, in charts
Fig. 1a · how many people
0people have taken this in any study cited here
0 people · 0 studies in people
What this page cites instead is 1 animal study. None of them gave the compound to a person.
Counted from the list of sources on this page. We draw this chart only when a study in people is cited. An empty one is the answer, not a gap in the page.
Fig. 1b · evidence mix
None of the 1 source here is a study in people.
- Animal study · done in animals1100%
Counted from the list of sources on this page. It counts only what we cite, so there may be more studies out there. A review counts once, however many studies it sums up.
Fig. 2 · evidence over time
Every source here was published in 2024.
Too few different years on this page to draw a timeline.
Fig. 3 · legal status at a glance
US
Not approved
UK
Not approved
AU
Not approved
CA
Not approved
Not approved in any of the four countries shown. This is what the law says, not a verdict on the science. See Legal status below for the full text and any notes.
Fig. 4 · how much does what
Nobody has tested different amounts in people
This chart would show how the effect changes as the amount goes up. For this compound, nobody has measured that in people. So we leave it empty. We will not borrow an animal chart and pretend it works the same in people.
Fig. 5 · what the molecule is
- Kind of compound
- Small molecule
- Molecule weight
- Not asserted. No source loaded states a molecular weight for this prodrug formulation.
- Half-life
- Stated in words, not a numbersee the exact wording below
- Chain length
- None on file
Half-life as stated on file: Not asserted. No half-life figure for the prodrug or for the resulting sulfide exposure was resolved in the sources loaded.
No amino acid sequence is on file for SG1002, which is expected: a small molecule is not built from amino acids.
The studies we cite
- Animal study2024Astaxanthin and meclizine extend lifespan in UM-HET3 male mice; fisetin, SG1002, dimethyl fumarate, mycophenolic acid, and 4-phenylbutyrate do not
In mice. In the NIA mouse lifespan program, SG1002, a hydrogen sulfide releaser, did not clearly make either sex live longer at the dose and method used.
Interventions Testing Program. SG1002, described as a hydrogen sulfide donor, did not increase lifespan significantly at the dose and method of administration tested, in either sex.
Common questions
Has SG1002 been tested in people?
Not in any study cited here. No results in people for ageing. Hydrogen sulfide is needed for eating less to extend life in several species, so a pill that releases it was an unusually good bet. In mice, it failed at three different starting ages.
What is the SG1002 dosage?
No human dose established. No published study on this page has given this compound to people and reported a result. 1 animal study, no human study
Is SG1002 FDA-approved?
Investigational, meaning still being tested. Not approved for any use.
Can hydrogen sulfide reproduce the benefits of fasting or protein restriction?
Not on this evidence. Hydrogen sulfide is needed for eating less to extend lifespan in several species. Supplying it directly did not extend lifespan in mice at any of three starting ages. Being needed for an effect is not the same as being enough to cause it.
Does the three-start-age detail matter?
Yes, and it makes this failure unusually strong. The standard excuse for a failed lifespan test is that treatment started too late to work. Testing three starting ages and failing at all of them removes that excuse.
Should I take a hydrogen sulfide supplement?
There is no evidence for it in ageing, and one careful test against it. If what interests you is the eating-less pathway, the thing with real evidence is eating less itself. This site covers that in the fasting and protein sections.