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AOD-9604 Source
AOD-9604 Source

07 // The papers behind each finding

Which AOD-9604 Papers Matter Most to Your Choice?

The human papers answer the weight question. Animal papers can only suggest what to test next.

Review the test resultsReturn to the main answer

What can these papers tell you?

A claim can sound firm until you ask who received the drug. The papers below tell you whether the work involved people, animals, or dish-grown cells.

Papers [1] and [2] report fat loss in mice. Animal findings can guide the next test, but they cannot promise a change in your body.

Most entries cover mice, rats, rabbits, or cells grown in dishes. The human papers describe short safety work and weight tests that failed.

The best human test gave AOD-9604 no weight advantage. A good mouse result cannot stand in for proof that people were helped.

  1. Heffernan M, Summers RJ, Thorburn A, Ogru E, Gianello R, Jiang WJ, Ng FM. 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. Endocrinology. 2001;142(12):5182-5189. ↗
  2. Heffernan MA, Thorburn AW, Fam B, Summers R, Conway-Campbell B, Waters MJ, Ng FM. Increase of fat oxidation and weight loss in obese mice caused by chronic treatment with human growth hormone or a modified C-terminal fragment. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2001;25(10):1442-1449. ↗
  3. Ng FM, Sun J, Sharma L, Libinaka R, Jiang WJ, Gianello R. Metabolic studies of a synthetic lipolytic domain (AOD9604) of human growth hormone. Horm Res. 2000;53(6):274-278. ↗
  4. Bornstein J, Ng FM, Heng D, Wong KP. Metabolic actions of pituitary growth hormone. I. Inhibition of acetyl CoA carboxylase by human growth hormone and a carboxyl terminal part sequence acting through a second messenger. Acta Endocrinol (Copenh). 1983;103(4):479-486. ↗
  5. Stier H, Vos E, Kenley D. Safety and Tolerability of the Hexadecapeptide AOD9604 in Humans. J Endocrinol Metab. 2013;3(1-2):7-15. ↗
  6. More MI, Kenley D. Safety and Metabolism of AOD9604, a Novel Nutraceutical Ingredient for Improved Metabolic Health. J Endocrinol Metab. 2014;4(3):64-77. ↗
  7. AOD-9604 (Metabolic Pharmaceuticals). Drug development profile. Curr Opin Investig Drugs. 2004;5(4):437-441. ↗
  8. Halford JC. Obesity drugs in clinical development. Curr Opin Investig Drugs. 2006;7(4):312-318. ↗
  9. Ng FM, et al. Metabolic studies localising the lipolytic/antilipogenic activity of human growth hormone to the synthetic C-terminal AOD9604 domain. Horm Res. 2000;53(6):274-278. ↗
  10. Kwon DR, Park GY. Effect of Intra-articular Injection of AOD9604 with or without Hyaluronic Acid in Rabbit Osteoarthritis Model. Ann Clin Lab Sci. 2015;45(4):426-432. ↗
  11. Adan RA. Central and peripheral molecular targets for antiobesity pharmacotherapy. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2010;87(6):748-751. ↗
  12. Stier H, Vos E, Kenley D. Safety and Tolerability of the Hexadecapeptide AOD9604 in Humans (reporting the discontinued obesity program and absence of significant weight loss versus placebo). J Endocrinol Metab. 2013;3(1-2):7-15. ↗
  13. Coutinho LFD, De Oliveira Neves LF, Camilo RP. A new era of doping? Use of peptide and peptide-analog drugs in recreational and professional sport and bodybuilding: a critical review. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2026. ↗
  14. AOD-9604 (Metabolic Pharmaceuticals): development profile and discontinuation of the obesity program. Curr Opin Investig Drugs. 2004;5(4):437-441. ↗
  15. World Anti-Doping Agency. Prohibited List, Section S2 (Peptide Hormones, Growth Factors, Related Substances and Mimetics) — growth-hormone fragments including AOD-9604 are prohibited at all times in sport. WADA. ↗
  16. Schänzer W, Thevis M. Human sports drug testing by mass spectrometry. Mass Spectrom Rev. 2017;36:16-46. ↗
  17. Thomas A, Görgens C, Guddat S, Thieme D, Dellanna F, Schänzer W, Thevis M. Simplifying and expanding the screening for peptides <2 kDa by direct urine injection, liquid chromatography, and ion mobility mass spectrometry. J Sep Sci. 2016;39:333-341. ↗
  18. Ng FM, et al. Effect of an antilipogenic fragment of human growth hormone on glucose transport in rat adipocytes. Biochem Mol Biol Int. 1993;31(4):631-639. ↗
  19. Ng FM, et al. Molecular and cellular actions of a structural domain of human growth hormone (AOD9401) on lipid metabolism in Zucker fatty rats. J Mol Endocrinol. 2000;25(3):287-298. ↗
  20. Vanhee C, Moens G, Deconinck E, De Beer JO. Identification and characterization of peptide drugs in unknown pharmaceutical preparations seized by the Belgian authorities: case report on AOD9604. Drug Test Anal. 2014;6:964-968. ↗
  21. Ng FM, Bornstein J. Hyperglycemic action of synthetic C-terminal fragments of human growth hormone. Am J Physiol. 1978;234(5):E521-E526. ↗