Ranked by human evidence

Best Peptides for Anti-Aging, Ranked by Human Evidence

Teriparatide and abaloparatide have the strongest human evidence, but their trials measured fractures and bone density in osteoporosis, not aging itself. I found no controlled human trial of the popular longevity peptides, such as epitalon, MOTS-c and FOXO4-DRI, and NAD+ injections have only clearance and tolerability studies.

Collagen peptides have randomised human trials for joint comfort and some bone measures, at larger doses and over longer periods than the skin studies used. Beyond that, robust human evidence for slowing aging is missing - the longevity peptides are research-use-only and rest on animal work. For the skin and hair side of aging, see Skin & beauty.

Peptides for anti-aging, ranked by human evidence

The order is the strength of human evidence, strongest first: strong, moderate, limited, animal or lab only, then none. Ties keep the site's usual compound order. A higher rank means more and better human studies, not that a compound works for anti-aging, so check what each study measured.

Peptides for anti-aging compared: evidence level, US legal status and what human studies measured
Rank	Compound	Evidence	US status	Measured in humans	Guide
1	Teriparatide	Strong human evidence	FDA-approved · prescription only	Fewer new fractures and higher bone density in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.	Read
2	Abaloparatide	Strong human evidence	FDA-approved · prescription only	Fewer new spine fractures and higher bone density than placebo in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.	Read
3	SS-31	Moderate human evidence	FDA-approved · prescription only	Muscle strength in Barth syndrome (accelerated approval); its largest trial, in mitochondrial myopathy, missed its primary endpoints.	Read
4	Collagen peptides (oral)	Limited human data	Dietary supplement	Joint pain and bone density in a few small trials, including 131 postmenopausal women over 12 months; quality rated low.	Read
5	Sermorelin	Limited human data	Unapproved drug	Growth in children with growth hormone deficiency; an IGF-1 blood marker in hypogonadal men.	Read
6	Pinealon	Limited human data	Research use only	Psychological and biological-age scores in small Russian studies with no placebo group described.	Read
7	HGH 191AA	Limited human data	Research use only	Somatropin's approval trials, in growth hormone deficiency and related conditions; never in healthy adults for muscle, recovery or aging.	Read
8	NAD+ (injection)	Limited human data	Unapproved drug	How the body clears an IV dose, and tolerability; no energy, aging or cognition outcomes.	Read
9	Vesugen	Limited human data	Research use only	Small uncontrolled Russian studies: penile blood flow in 41 men, and, given with Pinealon, biological-age markers in 32 people.	Read
10	Pancragen	Limited human data	Research use only	Glucose and insulin resistance in a non-randomised comparison of 63 older adults.	Read
11	MOTS-c	Animal / lab only	Research use only	Only the body's own MOTS-c levels, for example after exercise; no completed trial has given it to people.	Read
12	Epitalon	Animal / lab only	Research use only	I found no randomised trial; its telomere result was measured in human cells in a dish.	Read
13	Humanin	Animal / lab only	Research use only	Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.	Read
14	FOXO4-DRI	Animal / lab only	Research use only	Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.	Read
15	Cardiogen	Animal / lab only	Research use only	Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.	Read
16	Prostamax	Animal / lab only	Research use only	Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.	Read
17	Cortagen	Animal / lab only	Research use only	Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.	Read
18	Bronchogen	Animal / lab only	Research use only	Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.	Read
19	Chonluten	Animal / lab only	Research use only	Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.	Read
20	Cartalax	Animal / lab only	Research use only	Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.	Read
21	Livagen	Animal / lab only	Research use only	Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.	Read
22	Testagen	Animal / lab only	Research use only	None: animal studies of its sequence measured thyroid and thymus outcomes in birds.	Read
23	Crystagen	Animal / lab only	Research use only	Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.	Read
24	Vilon	Animal / lab only	Research use only	Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.	Read
25	Ovagen	No meaningful evidence	Research use only	No published studies of adequate quality.	Read

Prescription / GLP-1FDA-approved · prescription only
1. Teriparatide
Strong human evidence
Measured in humans: Fewer new fractures and higher bone density in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.
Why this rating
The pivotal randomised, placebo-controlled Fracture Prevention Trial in postmenopausal women with prior vertebral fracture found teriparatide reduced new vertebral and nonvertebral fractures and raised bone mineral density at the doses that led to FDA approval. FDA required a boxed warning over osteosarcoma seen in rats given high, prolonged doses; two real-world claims-linkage studies of human teriparatide use found no increase in osteosarcoma, and FDA removed the boxed warning in November 2020 and relaxed the 2-year lifetime limit (use beyond 2 years is now to be considered only if fracture risk remains or returns to high), while keeping a narrower warnings-section caution because the human evidence base for long-term or repeated use is still limited.
Prescription / GLP-1FDA-approved · prescription only
2. Abaloparatide
Strong human evidence
Measured in humans: Fewer new spine fractures and higher bone density than placebo in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.
Why this rating
FDA approval rests on the ACTIVE trial, a randomised, placebo- and active-comparator-controlled study in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis, which found abaloparatide reduced new vertebral fractures and increased bone mineral density versus placebo. The adverse-reaction rates on the approved label come from that trial data.
Research peptidesFDA-approved · prescription only
3. SS-31
Moderate human evidence
Measured in humans: Muscle strength in Barth syndrome (accelerated approval); its largest trial, in mitochondrial myopathy, missed its primary endpoints.
Why this rating
Sixteen randomised trials, all in diagnosed patients: primary mitochondrial myopathy through dose-escalation and crossover designs to a large controlled study, plus Barth syndrome and a topical ophthalmic formulation. The lead trial in primary mitochondrial myopathy did not meet its primary endpoints. In Barth syndrome, FDA granted accelerated approval in September 2025 on an improvement in knee extensor muscle strength, an intermediate endpoint, with continued approval contingent on a confirmatory trial. No trial has studied healthy adults.
Collagen & skinDietary supplement
4. Collagen peptides (oral)
Limited human data
Measured in humans: Joint pain and bone density in a few small trials, including 131 postmenopausal women over 12 months; quality rated low.
Why this rating
Joints: one 24-week trial in athletes with joint pain, plus a meta-analysis that found a short-term pain effect but rated the quality of evidence very low. Bone: a single 12-month randomized trial in 131 postmenopausal women, with small changes and no independent replication.
Prescription / GLP-1Unapproved drug
5. Sermorelin
Limited human data
Measured in humans: Growth in children with growth hormone deficiency; an IGF-1 blood marker in hypogonadal men.
Why this rating
Randomised trials exist but sit in paediatric growth hormone deficiency, and the review reporting the treatment regimen hedges it as limited data with the effect on final adult height yet to be determined. The nearest adult evidence is an IGF-1 biomarker result in hypogonadal men. No randomised trial in healthy adults for the marketed outcomes was located.
Research peptidesResearch use only
6. Pinealon
Limited human data
Measured in humans: Psychological and biological-age scores in small Russian studies with no placebo group described.
Why this rating
Twenty-two PubMed records in total, one tagged as a clinical trial and none as a randomised controlled trial. Several records returned under a human-tagged search are false positives about unrelated subjects. Most of what exists is mechanistic laboratory work; the four human studies in my registry are small Russian reports (150 lorry drivers and locomotive crews in 2012, about 30 adults in 2015, 110 people in 2016) whose abstracts describe no placebo group; the only stated dose is 100 mcg by mouth twice daily for two weeks, and the 2015 study reported pro-oxidant activity and a fall in blood stem cells.
Research peptidesResearch use only
7. HGH 191AA
Limited human data
Measured in humans: Somatropin's approval trials, in growth hormone deficiency and related conditions; never in healthy adults for muscle, recovery or aging.
Why this rating
The parent molecule, somatropin, has strong trial evidence for its FDA-approved indications - growth hormone deficiency, Turner and Prader-Willi syndromes, and related conditions - reflected in approved drug labels (see externalRefs). None of that trial evidence was collected in healthy adults using it for the muscle, recovery or anti-aging claims this research-sold product is marketed for, and no clinical trial of a research-channel "HGH 191AA" vial itself exists. That gap - real drug, unstudied off-label consumer use, unverified vial - keeps this record at "limited" rather than higher.
Research peptidesUnapproved drug
8. NAD+ (injection)
Limited human data
Measured in humans: How the body clears an IV dose, and tolerability; no energy, aging or cognition outcomes.
Why this rating
Two published human studies of IV NAD+ are in my verified registry: a 2019 pharmacokinetic pilot tracking plasma and urine NAD+ metabolites over a 6-hour infusion, and a 2026 retrospective clinic-record comparison of IV NAD+ against IV nicotinamide riboside measuring tolerability and short-term safety markers. Both are pharmacokinetic or tolerability studies, not controlled efficacy trials - neither measured the energy, anti-aging, cognitive or addiction-recovery outcomes marketed to consumers, so those claims remain unverified against my registry.
Research peptidesResearch use only
9. Vesugen
Limited human data
Measured in humans: Small uncontrolled Russian studies: penile blood flow in 41 men, and, given with Pinealon, biological-age markers in 32 people.
Why this rating
Vesugen (KED, Lys-Glu-Asp) has a PubMed record concentrated in gene-expression work from one Russian research group and its collaborators: modulation of aging- and apoptosis-related genes in cultured human mesenchymal stem cells, and a promoter-binding study in vascular endothelial cells. A 2021 review from the same group states, citing earlier work, that oral KED improved memory and attention in elderly people with functional CNS disorders - a specific human claim I could not independently locate and verify as a primary trial, so I report it as the review's own claim rather than as evidence I have confirmed myself. Two small Russian human studies with no control group described in their abstracts also exist: in 41 men with erectile dysfunction caused by atherosclerosis, penile-artery blood flow improved after Vesugen alone; in 32 people with several chronic illnesses given Vesugen and Pinealon, the researchers reported slower "biological age" markers, but also pro-oxidant activity and a fall in CD34+ blood stem cells.
Research peptidesResearch use only
10. Pancragen
Limited human data
Measured in humans: Glucose and insulin resistance in a non-randomised comparison of 63 older adults.
Why this rating
PubMed indexes several papers under "Pancragen" or its formal name, lysyl-glutamyl-aspartyl-tryptophanamide. Most are animal studies: rat models of chemically induced diabetes and aged rhesus monkeys. One paper, however, reports a human comparison - 30 healthy older adults and 33 with type 2 diabetes - in which pancragen lowered fasting glucose, insulin and an insulin-resistance index in the diabetic group. It was not randomised or placebo-controlled, so it sits above pure preclinical work but well below a controlled trial.
Research peptidesResearch use only
11. MOTS-c
Animal / lab only
Measured in humans: Only the body's own MOTS-c levels, for example after exercise; no completed trial has given it to people.
Why this rating
The four human records tagged as randomised trials all measure endogenous MOTS-c responding to exercise, metformin or heat stress. None administers MOTS-c to anyone. One Phase 2 trial giving subcutaneous MOTS-c to adults with prediabetes is recruiting, with primary completion due February 2027, and has reported nothing.
Research peptidesResearch use only
12. Epitalon
Animal / lab only
Measured in humans: I found no randomised trial; its telomere result was measured in human cells in a dish.
Why this rating
142 PubMed records, exactly one tagged as a clinical trial and none as a randomised controlled trial. The headline telomere result is measured in human cell lines rather than in people, and much of the wider literature is Russian-language from a single research tradition that has not been independently replicated.
Research peptidesResearch use only
13. Humanin
Animal / lab only
Measured in humans: Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.
Why this rating
No completed human clinical trial administering humanin to people was located for this page. The published literature is overwhelmingly cell-culture and rodent work on neuroprotection, metabolic signalling and cardiovascular stress. Human research that exists measures circulating humanin levels in blood as an observational marker, not the effect of dosing someone with it, so human efficacy is not established.
Research peptidesResearch use only
14. FOXO4-DRI
Animal / lab only
Measured in humans: Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.
Why this rating
A PubMed search for FOXO4-DRI (queried 24 September 2026) returns 19 records and zero indexed under a clinical-trial or randomised-controlled-trial publication type. The public record consists of cell-culture and rodent work; I could not identify any published human study of FOXO4-DRI by any route.
Research peptidesResearch use only
15. Cardiogen
Animal / lab only
Measured in humans: Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.
Why this rating
Every study of Cardiogen I located and read is an animal or tissue-culture experiment, from one Russian research group and its collaborators: a rat myocardial-tissue-culture proliferation study, a rat transplanted-sarcoma study, and an organotypic-culture study alongside three related bioregulator peptides. I found no published human trial of any kind for Cardiogen.
Research peptidesResearch use only
16. Prostamax
Animal / lab only
Measured in humans: Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.
Why this rating
Every study of synthetic Prostamax I located and read is laboratory work from one Russian/Georgian research lineage: two studies of chromatin in cultured human lymphocytes (one measuring its thermal-denaturation profile, one chromosome changes in cells from people aged 75-86), plus a rat organotypic-tissue-culture study. A third, microcalorimetric lymphocyte study set out to test Prostamax together with copper and cadmium ions, but its abstract reports results only for the metal ions, not a separate effect of Prostamax. I found no published human trial in prostate tissue or of any prostate outcome for this synthetic tetrapeptide.
Research peptidesResearch use only
17. Cortagen
Animal / lab only
Measured in humans: Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.
Why this rating
Every study of Cortagen I located and read is an animal experiment - a gene-expression microarray in mouse heart tissue and a behavioural/biochemical study in ischemic rat brains - from Russian research groups working in the same peptide-bioregulator tradition. One of the papers I read states, as background rather than as its own finding, that Cortagen showed a therapeutic effect on human peripheral-nerve recovery after injury; I could not independently locate and verify that human claim as a primary trial.
Research peptidesResearch use only
18. Bronchogen
Animal / lab only
Measured in humans: Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.
Why this rating
PubMed returns 12 records for "Bronchogen"; five are unrelated case reports about bronchogenic cysts, a coincidental word match, not the peptide. Of the seven real records, none is a clinical trial or a study in a living human being. The most substantive result is real: two related publications report that a month of Bronchogen treatment reduced neutrophilic inflammation and restored bronchial epithelium structure in a rat model of nitrogen-dioxide-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The rest of the record is in vitro DNA-binding and cell-culture work.
Research peptidesResearch use only
19. Chonluten
Animal / lab only
Measured in humans: Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.
Why this rating
PubMed returns exactly one record for "Chonluten": a 2022 in vitro study testing it alongside four other Khavinson peptides on a human monocyte cell line, finding reduced inflammatory cytokine release and reduced cell adhesion. No animal study, no clinical trial and no randomised trial of any kind exists for Chonluten specifically.
Research peptidesResearch use only
20. Cartalax
Animal / lab only
Measured in humans: Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.
Why this rating
I could not find a single PubMed-indexed paper that studies Cartalax by that name, and a direct title/abstract search for "Cartalax" returns zero results. Two papers from the same Russian research group do dose the identical Ala-Glu-Asp sequence under the lab code "T-31", in organotypic and cultured kidney (renal) cell models from young and old rats, reporting increased cell proliferation and reduced senescence markers. That is real, citable, cell-culture evidence for this exact molecule - but it is evidence about kidney cells, not the cartilage or joint tissue the product is marketed for. The same group has also dosed it in living rats: in cisplatin-induced kidney failure (less protein and electrolytes in the urine), in old rats (more urine output, less urine protein, no signs of kidney toxicity), and, as T-31, in an ovariectomy model of osteoporosis (less bone-density loss than untreated rats, less effect than a cartilage extract). No human study of any kind is verifiable for this peptide.
Research peptidesResearch use only
21. Livagen
Animal / lab only
Measured in humans: Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.
Why this rating
PubMed returns 19 records for "Livagen". The records I verified are laboratory work: cultured rat hepatocytes, organotypic liver culture, a review of animal models of liver fibrosis and hepatitis, and lymphocytes or serum donated by elderly volunteers and tested outside the body. None is tagged as a clinical trial or randomised controlled trial, and none reports dosing a living human being.
Research peptidesResearch use only
22. Testagen
Animal / lab only
Measured in humans: None: animal studies of its sequence measured thyroid and thymus outcomes in birds.
Why this rating
I could not find a single PubMed-indexed paper studying "Testagen" by that name; a title/abstract search for "Testagen" returns two results, neither about this peptide. Searching by its actual chemical sequence, Lys-Glu-Asp-Gly, finds a real cluster of animal studies from one Russian research group - but every one I could verify measured thyroid-gland structure/hormones or thymus morphology in hypophysectomized chickens, not testicular or reproductive-hormone outcomes. No human study of any kind is verifiable for this compound.
Research peptidesResearch use only
23. Crystagen
Animal / lab only
Measured in humans: Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.
Why this rating
PubMed indexes exactly one paper that studies Crystagen by name: a Russian-language report on several short peptides tested together in the ageing spleen. Its abstract names no species and does not say whether the work was done in living animals or in tissue culture. It is not a clinical trial, not a randomised trial, and not a study in a living, dosed person. I could not find any second paper, in any language, that tests Crystagen specifically.
Research peptidesResearch use only
24. Vilon
Animal / lab only
Measured in humans: Cell and animal studies only; no controlled human trials.
Why this rating
Vilon has real, checkable cell-culture evidence under its own name. One study names it directly as one of five Khavinson-group peptides tested on human THP-1 monocyte/macrophage cells, where it modulated proliferative signalling. A second, titled around "Vilon and its analogue," reports that dipeptides increased a T-cell differentiation marker in cultured human and animal thymus cells. Both are cell-culture experiments, not animal or human trials, and both come from the same small Russian research tradition.
Research peptidesResearch use only
25. Ovagen
No meaningful evidence
Measured in humans: No published studies of adequate quality.
Why this rating
A PubMed search for "Ovagen" returns results, but every one of the first 20 is an unrelated paper on a different subject entirely - wastewater treatment, geriatric care, cattle superovulation - matched only because of how the search engine expands the term. Combining "Khavinson" with "ovary" or "ovarian peptide" returns a handful of unrelated hits too, and PubMed does not even recognise "Ovagen" as a supplementary concept the way it does for some sibling bioregulators. I could not find a single indexed paper, in any language, that studies a peptide called Ovagen. Vendor pages also disagree with each other on basic facts - one describes it as a liver/GI bioregulator, others as a reproductive one - which is itself a sign that no verifiable published literature exists to settle it.

Common questions about peptides for anti-aging

What is the best anti-aging peptide?

I found no peptide shown to slow aging in humans. By strength of human evidence, teriparatide and abaloparatide rank first, but their trials measured fractures and bone density in people with osteoporosis. Collagen peptides have small trials on joint pain and bone density. The longevity peptides sold online, such as epitalon and MOTS-c, have no controlled human trials.

Which peptides are best for aging skin?

Oral collagen peptides have the most human trials on skin aging, with small effects on elasticity and hydration. Topical peptides such as GHK-Cu, Argireline and Matrixyl have small studies only. The skin ranking covers them in detail.

Does epitalon really work?

Its headline telomere result was measured in human cells in a dish, and its lifespan results come from mice. I found no randomised human trial of it, and most of its literature comes from one Russian research tradition that has not been independently replicated.

Do NAD+ injections slow aging?

No study I verified tested that. The 2 published human studies of IV NAD+ I verified measured how the body clears a dose and how well it was tolerated. NAD+ is a coenzyme, not a peptide, and no injectable NAD+ product is FDA-approved.

Is SS-31 an anti-aging peptide?

It is sold as one, but its trials are in people with diagnosed mitochondrial diseases. FDA gave it accelerated approval in 2025, as Forzinity, for muscle strength in Barth syndrome, and its largest trial, in primary mitochondrial myopathy, missed its primary endpoints. I found no trial in healthy adults.

What are the downsides of anti-aging peptides?

The longevity peptides, such as epitalon, MOTS-c and pinealon, are sold as research chemicals, so no regulator checks what is in a vial, and their human safety is unknown. One small pinealon study reported pro-oxidant activity and a fall in blood stem cells. No injectable NAD+ product is FDA-approved. In a January 2026 warning letter, FDA reported 3 patients with low blood pressure, shaking and body aches after a compounder's NAD+ infusion. An unopened vial from the same lot tested high for bacterial endotoxins.

Peptides for anti-aging, ranked by human evidence

Common questions about peptides for anti-aging

Guides on peptides for anti-aging

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Abaloparatide Dosage: The FDA Label Schedule

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Bronchogen: Benefits, Dosage and Side Effects

Cardiogen (AEDR): What the Research Shows, Dosage and Legal Status

Cartalax: What It Is, Dosage and What the Evidence Shows

Chonluten: Benefits, Dosage and Side Effects

Collagen Peptide Benefits: What Human Studies Support

Collagen Peptides for Joints: What the Trials Found

Collagen Peptides: What the Human Trials Found

Cortagen (AEDP): What the Research Shows, Dosage and Legal Status

Crystagen: Dosage, Evidence and Legal Status

Epitalon (Epithalon): Dosage, Side Effects and Legality

Epitalon Dosage Chart and Calculator: Protocol and Cycle Length

FOXO4-DRI Dosage: Common Protocol, Mouse Data and Calculator

FOXO4-DRI: Benefits, Dosage, Side Effects and Legal Status

HGH 191AA Dosage: FDA Label Dose vs Common Research Practice

HGH 191AA: What It Is, Dosage and Legal Status

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Humanin Dosage: Common Protocol, Mouse Doses and Calculator

Humanin: Benefits, Dosage, Side Effects and the Research

Is NAD+ a Peptide? What "NAD Peptide" Products Really Are

Livagen: Benefits, Dosage and Side Effects

MOTS-c Dosage Chart and Calculator: Common Protocol, Mouse Data

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Ovagen: Dosage, Evidence and Legal Status

Pancragen: Dosage, Evidence and Legal Status

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Peptides and Cancer Risk: The Warning, the Theory, the Unknowns

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Pinealon: Dosage, Side Effects and Legal Status

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SS-31 Dosage Chart and Calculator: Common Protocol, Trial Doses

Teriparatide (Forteo): Uses, Dosage and Side Effects

Teriparatide Dosage: The FDA Label Schedule

Testagen: What It Is, Dosage and What the Evidence Shows

Thymulin: What the Thymus Peptide Is, the Research and Legal Status

TRT and Peptides: What Has (and Has Not) Been Studied

Vesugen (KED): What the Research Shows, Dosage and Legal Status

Vilon: What It Is, Dosage and What the Evidence Shows

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