Peptide finder

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Pick as many as you like. The number on each one is how many people it has been measured in across the whole archive. So you can see where the evidence is before you choose.

1. 01ErythropoietinBiologicStrong. At least two finished studies in people, and at least 1,000 people who took it. 3 completed trials, 4,641 people given it.6 reported

   603 people1 study

   • Aiming for a normal blood count did not help, and more of those patients ended up on dialysis. 603 people with failing kidneys were treated towards a normal or a lower blood count target and followed for three years. Heart events came out about the same, 58 against 47, a gap that could be chance. More people in the...

     New England Journal of Medicine, 2006 · 603 people

2. 02MelittinPeptideModerate. At least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. 5 completed trials, 658 people given it.4 reported

   538 people1 study

   • This tested whole bee venom, not melittin. Five hundred and thirty eight people with knee arthritis got weekly skin injections of venom, or of a control substance, for twelve weeks. Pain and physical function improved more on the venom. The gains were modest in size. Reactions where the needle went in were uncommon....

     Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2019 · 538 people

3. 03CarnosineSupplementModerate. At least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. 2 completed trials, 299 people given it.4 reported

   299 people1 study1 found nothing

   • found nothingCarnosine did nothing for physical performance overall, and the effects reported were found by slicing the group up afterwards. 299 people took 2 grams a day or a dummy and were tested on grip strength, calf raises, a two minute step test and walking speed over about twelve weeks. Nothing separated the groups on any...

     Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2026 · 299 people

4. 04EcdysteroneSupplementModerate. At least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. 3 completed trials, 233 people given it.5 reported

   233 people2 studies1 found nothing

   • found nothingThe drug version of this molecule was tested in 233 older adults losing muscle with age. It missed its main target. Across everyone who took part, walking speed over a 400 metre course barely changed compared with a dummy pill. A smaller group who stuck to the plan walked a little faster. Counting only those people is...

     Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, 2025 · 233 people

   • In a study in people, those taking ecdysterone gained more muscle than the comparison group and lifted more on the bench press. Blood tests for liver and kidney damage did not rise. The researchers checked everyone for banned drugs and tested the supplement for hidden steroids first. They said it should go on the...

     Archives of Toxicology, 2019 · number of people not given

5. 05BIO101Small moleculeModerate. At least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. 1 completed trial, 233 people given it.3 reported

   233 people1 study1 found nothing

   • found nothingIt missed the target it was built to hit. 233 older adults losing muscle with age, average age 75, took BIO101 at one of two doses or a dummy pill for six months. The measure was walking speed over 400 metres. Counting everyone, the drug made almost no difference. Covid wiped out more than half the final in-person...

     Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, 2025 · 233 people

6. 06LandogrozumabBiologicModerate. At least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. 3 completed trials, 726 people given it.

   201 people1 study1 found nothing

   • found nothingA myostatin antibody added muscle to older people who fall, and barely moved how they function. Two hundred older adults were split by chance between the drug and a dummy injection. After six months the drug group had gained about four hundred grams of arm and leg muscle, while the dummy group had lost a little....

     Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, 2015 · 201 people

7. 07DHEAHormoneModerate. At least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. 3 completed trials, 267 people given it.5 reported

   144 people1 study1 found nothing

   • found nothingThe biggest study of DHEA against a dummy pill as an anti-ageing supplement found nothing that mattered. 144 older men and women with low levels took it for two years. The hormone went up and little else changed. Body shape, strength, fitness, blood sugar control and quality of life did not get better. Bone density...

     The New England Journal of Medicine, 2006 · 144 people

8. 08Sodium phenylbutyrateSmall moleculeModerate. At least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. 2 completed trials, 148 people given it.4 reported

   137 people1 study

   • In ALS, a pill combining sodium phenylbutyrate with a bile acid slowed the loss of daily function a little over six months, compared with a dummy pill. 137 people took part. The other measures of strength, breathing and survival did not differ. This small trial led to an approval that was pulled after a larger trial...

     The New England Journal of Medicine, 2020 · 137 people

9. 09StamulumabBiologicModerate. At least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. 2 completed trials, 122 people given it.

   122 people2 studies1 found nothing

   • The first myostatin blocker tested in people was safe enough but did nothing for strength. 116 adults with three kinds of muscular dystrophy were split by chance across four dose levels or a dummy, and nobody involved knew which. Skin reactions appeared at the two highest doses. The authors state plainly that no...

     Annals of Neurology, 2008 · 116 people

   • found nothingInside the muscle, individual fibres did look better, in a handful of people. Researchers took muscle fibre samples from trial participants before and after six months. Five of them had been given the myostatin blocker and one had the dummy. Four of those five showed improved force and speed in single fibres. The one...

     Muscle and Nerve, 2009 · 6 people

10. 10CoQ10SupplementModerate. At least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. 2 completed trials, 162 people given it.4 reported

    120 people1 study1 found nothing

    • found nothingEven in people whose statin muscle pain was confirmed by taking them on and off the statin, CoQ10 did not help. 41 of those patients then took 600 mg a day of ubiquinol with their statin, or a dummy, for 8 weeks. Pain scores rose on the statin either way. Strength and fitness did not change. Blood CoQ10 did rise, so...

      Atherosclerosis, 2015 · 120 people

11. 11Nicotinamide RibosideSupplementLimited. People have taken it in a published study, but fewer than 100 of them. 4 completed trials, 90 people given it.5 reported

    90 people1 study

    • For the first time, this supplement changed something a person could actually do. 90 patients with poor circulation in their legs took it for six months. They could walk about 17.6 metres further in six minutes than the dummy group, which is around 20 extra paces. That is modest, and it is real. It is also the only...

      Nature Communications, 2024 · 90 people

12. 12NMNSupplementLimited. People have taken it in a published study, but fewer than 100 of them. 4 completed trials, 94 people given it.6 reported

    80 people2 studies2 found nothing

    • found nothingNMN raised NAD in the blood and added a little to how far people could walk, and did nothing for blood sugar handling. Eighty healthy middle aged adults took one of three daily doses or a dummy for two months, and nobody involved knew which. Walking distance in six minutes improved modestly. Insulin resistance did not...

      GeroScience, 2023 · 80 people

    • found nothingA high dose NMN tablet raised NAD in the blood and moved weight and cholesterol, but not muscle. 30 overweight or obese adults took MIB-626, 1000 mg twice a day, or a dummy pill, for 28 days. Weight fell 1.9 kg. The lower blood pressure number and LDL cholesterol fell too. Strength, tiredness, fitness and stair...

      Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2023 · number of people not given

13. 13L-leucineSupplementLimited. People have taken it in a published study, but fewer than 100 of them. 1 completed trial, 30 people given it.3 reported

    30 people1 study1 found nothing

    • found nothingThree months of leucine did nothing at all for muscle in healthy older men. 30 men averaging 71 took 2.5 g of leucine with each main meal, 7.5 g a day, or a dummy, decided by chance. Scans of muscle size showed no change in either group. Strength on a one-lift maximum did not change either. Insulin sensitivity,...

      American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2009 · 30 people

14. 14DasatinibSmall moleculeLimited. People have taken it in a published study, but fewer than 100 of them. 3 completed trials, 74 people given it.3 reported

    14 people2 studies

    • An early study in 14 people with lung scarring found their physical function improved. Everybody knew they were taking the drugs and there was no comparison group. Side effects were mostly mild to moderate. Read this as the study that justified running a proper trial, and then read what the proper trial went on to...

      EBioMedicine, 2019 · 14 people

    • A pilot that looked positive lost its effect the moment a dummy group was added. The same team ran it again in twelve people with lung scarring. Frailty, lung function and physical function did not meaningfully separate. The people on the drugs reported 65 non-serious side effects against 22 on the dummy. Small...

      EBioMedicine, 2023 · number of people not given

15. 15FollistatinBiologicLimited. People have taken it in a published study, but fewer than 100 of them. 2 completed trials, 12 people given it.

    12 people2 studies

    • A first small look at gene therapy for a muscle wasting disease, not an answer. Six men with Becker muscular dystrophy had the follistatin gene injected into their thigh muscles. Four of the six walked further in six minutes afterwards, by between 29 and 125 metres. Muscle samples showed less scarring. No harms were...

      Molecular Therapy, 2015 · 6 people

    • Six men with a progressive muscle disease walked further after gene therapy, while untreated men like them got worse. The treated group gained a typical 56 metres a year on a six minute walk. The comparison men lost 26 metres a year. Here is the problem. Nobody was picked by chance for either group, so the men who got...

      Molecular Therapy, 2017 · 6 people

16. 16ElamipretidePeptideModerate. At least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. 5 completed trials, 487 people given it.6 reported

    10 people1 study

    • A handful of patients kept improving for years, and there was nobody to compare them against. Ten people with Barth syndrome stayed on elamipretide in an extension where everybody got the drug. Their six minute walking distance rose by 96.1 metres over 168 weeks, a bit over three years. Reactions where they injected...

      Genetics in Medicine, 2024 · 10 people

17. 17Urolithin ASupplementLimited. People have taken it in a published study, but fewer than 100 of them. 2 completed trials, none stating how many people.4 reported

    number of people not given2 studies1 found nothing

    • found nothingFour months of it improved muscle endurance and blood chemistry, and left the headline measures untouched. Older adults took the supplement or a dummy. How far they could walk in six minutes did not differ, and neither did the peak energy their muscles could produce. What improved was how long a muscle could keep...

      JAMA Network Open, 2022 · number of people not given

    • Strength improved, and the trial still missed the thing it was built to show. Muscle strength in middle-aged adults rose about 12 percent, and fitness and walking distance improved as well. But peak power, the one measure chosen before the trial began, did not. When a study misses the measure it named first and hits...

      Cell Reports Medicine, 2022 · number of people not given

18. 18QuercetinSupplementLimited. People have taken it in a published study, but fewer than 100 of them. 3 completed trials, 60 people given it.2 reported

    14 people2 studies

    • Everyone here knew they were getting the drugs, and they walked better afterwards. 14 patients with lung scarring took part. Distance covered in six minutes, walking speed and time to rise from a chair all improved. There was nobody to compare them against. People who join a trial and receive close attention often...

      EBioMedicine, 2019 · 14 people

    • When the same team repeated their pilot with a dummy group added, the benefit vanished. Twelve people took part. Frailty, lung function and physical function came out much the same whichever they were given. Side effects were far more common on the drug, 65 reports against 22. Twelve people is tiny. The difference...

      EBioMedicine, 2023 · number of people not given

19. 19GlyNACSupplementLimited. People have taken it in a published study, but fewer than 100 of them. 2 completed trials, none stating how many people.3 reported

    number of people not given1 study

    • Older adults improved on several fronts, in a study with nobody to compare them against. Over 24 weeks the supplement corrected a shortage of the body's main antioxidant, and strength, walking speed and thinking all improved. The benefits then faded once people stopped, which at least points back at the supplement....

      Clinical and Translational Medicine, 2021 · number of people not given

20. 20MIB-626SupplementModerate. At least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. 4 completed trials, 107 people given it.1 reported

    number of people not given1 study1 found nothing

    • found nothingThe tablet moved some body measurements and left every measure of physical function untouched. 30 overweight or obese adults aged 45 and over took MIB-626 or a dummy tablet for four weeks. Weight fell by about two kilograms. Blood pressure and cholesterol both came down. Strength, stamina, how quickly muscles tired...

      Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2023 · number of people not given

21. 21Urolithin BSupplementLimited. People have taken it in a published study, but fewer than 100 of them. 1 completed trial, none stating how many people.

    number of people not given1 study1 found nothing

    • found nothingThis is urolithin A, not urolithin B, and it sits here because urolithin B has nothing like it. Older adults took urolithin A or a dummy. Muscle endurance improved and some blood markers moved. The six minute walk test did not improve, and neither did the peak energy output measured inside muscle. So even the better...

      JAMA Network Open, 2022 · number of people not given

22. 22MGFPeptidePreliminary. Studied in people, but no published study has had people take it. 1 human study where nobody was given it.6 reported

    8 people1 study1 found nothing

    • found nothingThis is the study sold as human evidence for MGF, and nobody in it was given MGF. 8 younger men and 7 men in their seventies and eighties did heavy one-leg knee extensions, then had a small piece of thigh muscle taken. The younger men's muscle switched on more of the MGF gene message. The older men's did not. This...

      Journal of Physiology, 2003 · 8 people

23. 23MK-677Small moleculeLimited. People have taken it in a published study, but fewer than 100 of them. 2 completed trials, 65 people given it.11 reported

    number of people not given1 study

    • The trial was stopped early over a heart safety signal, and most of what it measured did not improve. 123 older people recovering from a broken hip took MK-677 or a dummy pill. Walking speed improved and IGF-1 rose. Most other measures of function did not move. The study was halted before it finished because of...

      Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 2011 · number of people not given

24. 24ACE-031BiologicLimited. People have taken it in a published study, but fewer than 100 of them. 1 completed trial, 48 people given it.5 reported

    number of people not given1 study

    • The trial was stopped early for safety, and it never showed a benefit. Boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy were given ACE-031 or a dummy injection. After the second dose level, the study was halted because boys were getting nosebleeds and small spidery blood vessels in the skin. Walking distance and muscle mass...

      Muscle and Nerve, 2017 · number of people not given