MOTS-c Dosage Chart and Calculator: Common Protocol, Mouse Data
MOTS-c dosage chart: units per dose by vial size for the 2.5-10 mg common protocol, a calculator, and the mouse doses from the original 2015 study.
The short version
No completed human trial has given anyone MOTS-c, so there is no trial-established dose. The protocol most often used in practice is 2.5-10 mg by subcutaneous injection, 2 to 3 times a week, for 4-12 weeks with a break between cycles. That is common practice, not a tested or approved dose. The only trial-grade numbers that exist are from the original 2015 mouse study.
- No completed human trial has injected MOTS-c into anyone, at any dose.
- The protocol most often used is 2.5-10 mg SC, 2-3 times weekly. It is common practice, not trial data.
- The only trial-grade numbers come from a 2015 mouse study, and they stay mouse numbers.
- MOTS-c is prohibited in sport, which is separate from the dosing question.
No completed human trial has ever given a person an injection of MOTS-c, so nothing below is a trial-established dose. What follows is the protocol most often used in practice, stated as common practice and sourced to the clinics, practitioners and vendors that publish it. Alongside it are the only trial-grade numbers that exist, from the original 2015 mouse study. For the human evidence, the recruiting trial, and the legal status, see the main MOTS-c guide.
US legal status - Research use only
MOTS-c has no FDA-approved product and no dose established by any regulator or trial. It is sold as a research chemical and is prohibited in sport, with USADA guidance published on it specifically.
MOTS-c dosage: the common protocol
The protocol most often used is 2.5-10 mg by subcutaneous injection, 2 to 3 times a week, for 4-12 weeks with a break between cycles. Some protocols ramp toward daily dosing at higher amounts. This is common practice reported by clinics, practitioners and vendors, not a dose any trial has tested.
Common protocol
What is commonly used, not a dose established in trials. No regulator has set a dose for MOTS-c. Sources differ, so the ranges below span them.
- Dose per administration
- 2.5-10 mg
- How often
- 2 to 3 times a week is most common, with some protocols ramping toward daily dosing at higher amounts
- Route
- Subcutaneous injection
- Cycle length
- 4-12 weeks
- Break between cycles
- 4 weeks
- Common vial size
- 10 mg
- Timing
- Often injected in the morning
- Commonly paired with
- SS-31, CJC-1295, Ipamorelin
Sources frame the same 5 mg figure two ways - as a per-injection dose given 2-3 times weekly, or as a weekly total split across 2-3 doses - so the per-administration range here spans both readings.
Plan a cycle in the protocol builder or work out injection volume in the dosage calculator.
The common MOTS-c dose is 2.5-10 mg, 2 to 3 times a week is most common, with some protocols ramping toward daily dosing at higher amounts. From a 10 mg vial mixed with 1 mL of bacteriostatic water, 6.5 mg is 65 units (0.65 mL) on a U-100 insulin syringe.
MOTS-c 10 mg vial: units per dose
Full 10 mg vial page: mixing, doses per vial, how long it lasts →
| Water added | Concentration | 1 unit = | 2.5 mg | 6.5 mg | 10 mg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 mL | 10 mg/mL | 100 mcg | 25 units | 65 units | 100 units |
| 2 mL | 5 mg/mL | 50 mcg | 50 units | over 100 units | over 100 units |
| 3 mL | 3.33 mg/mL | 33.33 mcg | 75 units | over 100 units | over 100 units |
All MOTS-c vial sizes: 5 mg · 10 mg · 20 mg · 40 mg
Units are on a standard U-100 insulin syringe (100 units = 1 mL), rounded to the nearest half unit - half-unit marks are on 0.3 mL syringes. Water volumes are examples: more water means more units per dose, not more doses per vial. For any other vial or dose, use the calculator below.
How many 10 mg vials a cycle takes
| Scenario | Dose | Doses a week | Weeks | Total | 10 mg vials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low end of the common protocol | 2.5 mg | 2 | 4 | 20 mg | 2 |
| High end of the common protocol | 10 mg | 7 | 12 | 840 mg | 84 |
Whole vials, rounded up. Plan a cycle with your own numbers in the protocol builder. Keep mixed vials cold and use them within the window in how long reconstituted peptides last; where to inject: subcutaneous injection sites.
The human record contains no injections
The four human studies discussed on the main guide all measure MOTS-c that a person’s own body already produces, rising in response to exercise, metformin or heat stress. None of them gives MOTS-c to anybody.
One placebo-controlled Phase 2 trial is giving subcutaneous MOTS-c to adults with prediabetes. It is recruiting, and its public registry entry does not publish the milligram amount being tested. Until it reports, there is no human dosing record to draw a figure from, whether low, conservative or otherwise.
MOTS-c doses used in animal studies
The 2015 paper that first described MOTS-c Lee 2015 - Lee C, Zeng J, Drew BG et al. The mitochondrial-derived peptide MOTS-c promotes metabolic homeostasis and reduces obesity and insulin resistance. Cell Metab. 2015;21(3):443-54., in the references below treated mice with it by daily intraperitoneal injection, at doses that varied by experiment:
| What was measured | Mice | Dose | Frequency and duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body weight, food intake, blood glucose | Outbred CD-1, normal diet | 5 mg/kg/day | Twice daily, 4 days |
| Glucose tolerance test | C57BL/6, normal diet and high-fat diet | 5 mg/kg/day | Once daily, 7 days |
| Body weight, food intake, glucose, insulin on a high-fat diet | Outbred CD-1, high-fat diet (60% of calories) | 0.5 mg/kg/day | Once daily, 8 weeks |
| Respiratory exchange ratio on a high-fat diet | Outbred CD-1, high-fat diet | 0.5 mg/kg/day | Once daily, 3 weeks |
These figures are from that paper’s methods. The dose varied tenfold across experiments within the same study, depending on what was measured and for how long.
What is not established
- No human dose exists, at any dose, route, frequency or duration, because no completed human trial has administered MOTS-c to anyone.
- No human half-life is established. Nothing on this page or the main guide states one, and none should be assumed for dosing-interval purposes.
- The common protocol above is not trial-established. It reflects what clinics, practitioners and vendors report using, not a dose any completed trial has tested or any regulator has reviewed.
Reconstitution and injection volume: use the calculator, not a guess
The injection volume for a target amount depends on a specific vial’s concentration and diluent, which this page cannot know. The dosage calculator handles concentration and draw-volume arithmetic. It does not supply or endorse a dose.
Who should not use it
No FDA-reviewed contraindication list exists, because MOTS-c has never gone through that review. There is no published human safety data on pregnancy, breastfeeding, children, drug interactions, or use alongside any diagnosed condition. A compound with no completed human trial and no FDA-reviewed label is not something to self-direct dosing around.
MOTS-c side effects and risks
The biggest risk is the size of the gap in the data. No human trial has ever administered MOTS-c, so no human safety profile, human half-life or human dose exists at any level. Material sold as a research chemical carries no regulator-verified purity, identity or concentration. MOTS-c is also a prohibited substance in sport, with USADA guidance published on it specifically. That is a separate issue from whether any dose is safe or effective.
Related
MOTS-c dosage calculator
Preset to a 10 mg vial and 2,500 mcg, the low end of the common protocol. Enter your own vial size, water and dose to get the syringe units to draw.
Your vial
Printed on the vial. There is no standard size - enter what yours says.
This changes how much you draw - never how many doses the vial holds.
100 units per mL. 1 unit = 0.01 mL. This is what almost every insulin syringe sold is, in every barrel size.
Capacity only. A 1 mL U-100 syringe holds 100 units - the scale decides that, not the barrel.
Draw this much
= 0.5 mL on a 1 mL U-100 syringe
- Concentration
- 5,000 mcg/mL
- Exact volume
- 0.5 mL
- Dose you actually get
- 2,500 mcg
- Doses per vial(unaffected by water volume)
- 4
Where to buy MOTS-c for research
Each vendor is checked against my vendor checklist.
1.Next Level PharmFeatured
10 mg vial
- No FDA warning letter found
- Names its testing lab
- Batch COAs published
- Takes card payment
2.Spartan Peptides
10 mg vial
- No FDA warning letter found
- Names its testing lab
3.BioEdge Research Labs
10 mg vial
- No FDA warning letter found
- Names its testing lab
- Batch COAs published
Common questions
What is the usual MOTS-c dose?
No completed human trial has tested a dose, so nothing here is trial-established. Clinics, practitioners and vendors most often describe 2.5-10 mg by subcutaneous injection, 2 to 3 times a week, for 4-12 weeks with a break between cycles. Some protocols ramp toward daily dosing at higher amounts. This is common practice, not a tested or approved dose.
What dose did the original MOTS-c study use?
The 2015 study that first described MOTS-c gave it to mice by daily intraperitoneal injection. Doses ranged from 0.5 to 5 milligrams per kilogram depending on the experiment, for periods from four days to eight weeks. These are mouse doses in specific experiments, not a human protocol.
Can a mouse dose be converted into a human dose?
Not reliably, and this page will not do it. Body-surface-area scaling formulas exist for early drug development. Applying one here would create a number with false authority, for a compound that has never been dosed in a human trial.
Is there a human trial testing MOTS-c dosing?
One placebo-controlled Phase 2 trial is giving subcutaneous MOTS-c to adults with prediabetes and is currently recruiting. Its public registry entry does not state the milligram amount, and it has not reported results.
How do I work out reconstitution and injection volume?
That is arithmetic about a specific vial and diluent, not a dosing decision, and no dose is established either way. The dosage calculator handles concentration and draw-volume math for whatever amount is being discussed. It does not supply or endorse a dose.
Who should not use MOTS-c, and what are the risks?
With no completed human trial, there is no regulator-reviewed contraindication list and no human safety data on interactions, pregnancy or long-term use. Material sold as a research chemical has no verified purity or concentration. MOTS-c is also a prohibited substance in sport.
References (1 sources)
Bibliographic detail is fetched from PubMed, not written by me - so a citation here cannot drift from the paper it names. Study design comes from PubMed's own tags rather than my judgement.