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Research use only · common protocol

MOTS-c 40 mg vial dosage

A 40 mg MOTS-c vial mixed with 1 mL of bacteriostatic water gives 40 mg/mL, so 6.5 mg is 16.5 units (0.16 mL) on a U-100 insulin syringe. At 6.5 mg a dose, one vial holds 6 doses.

Email me this plan, with a reminder before the vial's 28-day mark →

The common MOTS-c protocol is 2.5-10 mg, 2 to 3 times a week is most common, with some protocols ramping toward daily dosing at higher amounts - common practice, not a dose established in trials. Evidence, side effects and legal status are on the full MOTS-c dosing page.

MOTS-c 40 mg vial at a glance

Vial
40 mg of MOTS-c per vial
Common dose
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
Mixing example
1 mL bacteriostatic water = 40 mg/mL; 1 unit = 400 mcg
Doses per vial
16 at 2.5 mg · 6 at 6.5 mg · 4 at 10 mg
Cycle
4-12 weeks, then 4 weeks off

What MOTS-c is

Class:
Mitochondrial-derived peptide (16 amino acids)
Also called:
Mitochondrial ORF of the 12S rRNA type-c, MOTS-C peptide
Used for:
Sold for metabolic health, fat loss and longevity. Studied in humans as a biomarker of exercise response.
Human evidence:
Animal / lab only. 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.
US status:
Research use only. Not approved for human use and sold as a research chemical. Prohibited in sport, with USADA guidance published specifically on it.

The full picture, with every study: MOTS-c guide.

Units per dose: MOTS-c 40 mg vial

Water addedConcentration1 unit =2.5 mg6.5 mg10 mg
1 mL40 mg/mL400 mcg6.5 units16.5 units25 units
2 mL20 mg/mL200 mcg12.5 units32.5 units50 units
5 mL8 mg/mL80 mcg31.5 units81.5 unitsover 100 units

U-100 insulin syringe (100 units = 1 mL), to the nearest half unit. Water volumes are examples. Other numbers: dosage calculator.

Every dose from 2.5 mg to 10 mg, in units

With 1 mL of water in a 40 mg vial (40 mg/mL). Every dose across the common range, so you can read off any dose. The sources give a range, not a week-by-week schedule.

DoseDraw on a U-100 syringeVolumeDoses per vial
2.5 mg6.5 units0.065 mL16
3 mg7.5 units0.075 mL13
4 mg10 units0.1 mL10
5 mg12.5 units0.125 mL8
6 mg15 units0.15 mL6
7 mg17.5 units0.175 mL5
8 mg20 units0.2 mL5
9 mg22.5 units0.225 mL4
10 mg25 units0.25 mL4

How many doses a 40 mg vial holds

DoseDoses per vialWeeks per vial
2.5 mg162.3-8
6.5 mg60.9-3
10 mg40.6-2

Weeks per vial at the common frequency (2 to 3 times a week is most common, with some protocols ramping toward daily dosing at higher amounts). Doses per vial do not depend on how much water you add.

Email me my MOTS-c 40 mg vial plan

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Your email stays with me at Peptide Decode: I never share or sell it (privacy policy). The plan repeats this page's arithmetic for the dose you pick; it is not medical advice. Unsubscribe from any email.

The common MOTS-c protocol

Dose2.5-10 mg per injection
How often2 to 3 times a week is most common, with some protocols ramping toward daily dosing at higher amounts
TimingOften injected in the morning
RouteSubcutaneous injection
Cycle4-12 weeks
Break4 weeks
Often paired withSS-31, CJC-1295, Ipamorelin
Sources agree?Partly - the sources differ, and the ranges above cover them

Common practice from the vendors and clinics that publish it, not a dose tested in trials. Where it comes from: [1], [2], [3], [4]. I do not give week-by-week titration: none of these sources states one.

Supplies for one cycle with 40 mg vials

Counted for the low and high ends of the common protocol, mixing each vial with 1 mL of water. One new syringe per injection.

PlanInjections40 mg vialsInsulin syringesBacteriostatic waterAlcohol swabs
2.5 mg, 2×/week, 4 weeks8181 mL (1 × 10 mL bottle)18 (1 × 100-pack)
10 mg, 7×/week, 12 weeks84218421 mL (3 × 10 mL bottles)210 (3 × 100-pack)

Arithmetic on the protocol and this vial size. Swabs: two per vial mixed (both stoppers) and two per injection (vial stopper and skin). An opened multi-dose vial has a use-by date (see storage), which on a slow schedule can matter more than the dose count. Plan your own numbers with the protocol builder.

How to mix a 40 mg MOTS-c vial

For this vial: 1 mL of bacteriostatic water makes 40 mg/mL, so 6.5 mg is 16.5 units (0.16 mL) on a U-100 insulin syringe. Pick a different volume from the units table if you want bigger or smaller draws; the number of doses stays the same.

  1. Wipe the rubber stoppers of both the peptide vial and the bacteriostatic water vial with an alcohol swab and let the alcohol dry. [5][6]
  2. With a new sterile needle and syringe, draw up the amount of bacteriostatic water you have chosen for the dilution. [5][6][7]
  3. Inject the water into the peptide vial by aiming the stream against the inside glass wall, which helps prevent foaming. [8]
  4. Swirl or roll the vial gently until the powder has fully dissolved; do not shake it. Do not inject the solution if it is cloudy or has particles in it. [5][6][8]
  5. Label the vial with the date and time it was mixed, the amount of water added and how long it can be used after mixing. [5]
  6. Store the mixed vial in the refrigerator at 2-8°C (36-46°F) and do not freeze it. [8]

Step by step with pictures: how to reconstitute peptides. About the water itself: bacteriostatic water.

Storing MOTS-c vials

  • Freeze-dried (lyophilized) peptide keeps far longer than peptide in solution; peptide suppliers advise storing the powder at -20°C away from bright light. [9]
  • Protect peptide vials from heat and light. [9][10]
  • Avoid repeated freeze-thaw cycles; a prescription peptide label also says not to freeze a vial once it has been mixed. [8][9]
  • Once a multi-dose vial, such as bacteriostatic water, has been opened (needle-punctured), date it and discard it within 28 days unless its manufacturer states another date. [11][12]

More detail: peptide storage and shelf life.

Injecting safely

  • Clean the injection site with an alcohol swab and let the skin dry completely before injecting. [13][14]
  • Pinch up a fold of skin and fat (not muscle) and insert the needle at a 45- to 90-degree angle: 90 degrees where there is enough fatty tissue, 45 degrees where there is little. [13][14][15]
  • Pulling back on the plunger (aspiration) is not necessary for a subcutaneous injection, because the chance of the needle being in a blood vessel is small. [13]
  • Inject slowly, at roughly 10 seconds per mL. [13]
  • Common sites are the belly, the thigh and the upper arm; rotate sites, keeping each injection at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) from the last. [8][13][14]

Hygiene and warning signs

  • Use a new sterile needle and syringe for every injection and every time you enter a vial; never reuse them. [7][11][14]
  • Never share needles, syringes or pens with anyone, even if the needle is changed; unsafe injection practices spread hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. [7][10][11]
  • Put used needles and syringes in a sharps disposal container straight away (FDA-cleared if possible), never loose in the trash, recycling or toilet, and dispose of the container following your community's guidelines. [16][17]
  • Contact a health care provider if the injection site shows signs of infection, such as redness, swelling, red streaks or a fever. [14]

Where to inject: subcutaneous injection sites.

How MOTS-c works

  • MOTS-c is a 16-amino-acid peptide encoded by a short open reading frame inside the mitochondrial 12S ribosomal RNA gene rather than by a nuclear gene. Its main target tissue appears to be skeletal muscle, where the described action is inhibition of the folate cycle and the purine synthesis attached to it, which in turn activates AMPK. [18]
  • Under metabolic stress the peptide moves into the cell nucleus and changes the expression of nuclear genes in an AMPK-dependent way, including genes carrying antioxidant response elements, and it interacted with stress-responsive transcription factors such as NRF2. [19]
  • Review articles set out the proposed roles that follow from this - insulin sensitivity, metabolic regulation and ageing - as a research programme rather than as established human pharmacology. [20][21]

What the MOTS-c research found

Human evidence: animal / lab only. Each result says what was studied.

  • Animal studyIn the 2015 paper that named the peptide, treating mice with MOTS-c prevented both age-dependent and high-fat-diet-induced insulin resistance, and prevented diet-induced obesity. [18]
  • Animal studyInjected MOTS-c improved physical performance in mice at 2, 12 and 22 months of age, and treatment begun late in life at 23.5 months, three times a week, increased physical capacity. The same paper reports that in people, exercise raises the MOTS-c a body already makes, in muscle and in blood. [22]
  • Human studyIn a randomised comparison of 10 people cycling for 45 minutes, 10 doing leg press and knee extension, and 10 controls, circulating humanin rose significantly after the endurance session while MOTS-c showed only a trend upwards, and resistance exercise raised neither. Plasma levels of both peptides were unrelated to fitness measures such as VO2max or muscle mitochondrial DNA copy number. [23]
  • Human studyIn a secondary analysis of a randomised trial in breast cancer survivors (25 Hispanic and 24 non-Hispanic White women, split between exercise and usual care), a 16-week aerobic and resistance exercise programme raised circulating MOTS-c in the non-Hispanic White women but not significantly in the Hispanic women. Post-exercise levels in the non-Hispanic White women tracked with falls in fat mass, body weight, HOMA-IR and CRP. [24]
  • Human studyA null result from the same field: in HER2-positive breast cancer patients randomised to 24 weeks of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and trastuzumab with or without daily metformin, circulating MOTS-c did not change significantly with metformin, and did not differ between those who achieved a pathological complete response and those who did not. [25]
  • Human studyOne registered trial does give people MOTS-c: a Phase 2a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study planned for 120 adults with prediabetes and overweight or obesity, using a fixed once-daily subcutaneous dose for 12 weeks, with insulin sensitivity and treatment-emergent adverse events as co-primary outcomes. It began recruiting in February 2026 and lists primary completion for February 2027, so it has reported nothing. [26]

MOTS-c side effects and risks

No completed human trial has given MOTS-c to anyone, so there is no human side-effect record. Apart from the one trial still under way, the human studies on this page measure the MOTS-c people already produce.

  • Regulator reviewFDA states it has identified no human exposure data on drug products containing MOTs-C administered by any route, and that it lacks the information needed to know whether the substance would cause harm in people. The agency also flags a significant immunogenicity risk for certain routes of administration and difficulty characterising the peptide and its impurities. [27]
  • Human studyThe Phase 2a prediabetes trial counts treatment-emergent adverse events as a primary outcome over 16 weeks and measures anti-drug antibodies as a secondary one. Until it reports, there is no published adverse-event rate for injected MOTS-c. [26]

Other things to know

  • The human literature measures your own MOTS-c rising after exercise. A peptide that rises when you exercise may be a marker of the benefit rather than its cause.
  • No completed human trial has tested injected MOTS-c for any outcome, so every circulating dosage chart predates any human efficacy data.
  • Prohibited in sport.

Reported side effects and what the studies measured: MOTS-c side effects.

Where this vial size comes from

MOTS-c is sold as a 40 mg vial by the pages below, each checked on the date shown. I list them as evidence that this size exists, not as a recommendation to buy from them.

  • BioEdge Research LabsvendorLists it as: Offers MOTS-C in 10mg and 40mg vial options · checked 2026-09-28
  • Next Level PharmvendorLists it as: Size options listed: 10mg, 40mg · checked 2026-09-28

The doses come from the sourced common protocol on the MOTS-c dosing page, and every number on this page is arithmetic on those doses and this vial size.

Other MOTS-c vial sizes

Where to buy MOTS-c for research

Sold for research use only. Listed by Next Level Pharm, Spartan Peptides and BioEdge Research Labs; compare them on my vendors page or see the listing on the MOTS-c page.

Questions

How much water do I add to a 40 mg MOTS-c vial?
There is no single correct amount: water changes how many units a dose is, not how many doses the vial holds. With 1 mL the vial is 40 mg/mL and 6.5 mg is 16.5 units (0.16 mL) on a U-100 insulin syringe. The units table gives 1, 2, 5 mL.
How many doses are in a 40 mg MOTS-c vial?
16 doses at 2.5 mg, 6 doses at 6.5 mg, 4 doses at 10 mg.
How long does a 40 mg MOTS-c vial last?
At 6.5 mg a dose and 2 to 3 times a week is most common, about 0.9-3 weeks. How long a mixed vial keeps is a separate limit; see storage below.
How many 40 mg vials do I need for a cycle?
1 vial at 2.5 mg 2 times a week for 4 weeks; 21 vials at 10 mg 7 times a week for 12 weeks.
What does 1 unit equal in a 40 mg MOTS-c vial?
400 mcg with 1 mL, 200 mcg with 2 mL, 80 mcg with 5 mL of bacteriostatic water, on a U-100 syringe.

References (28 sources)

  1. [1] Peptide Dosing Protocols: 5 mg SC 2-3x/week for 4-8 weeks; higher tier 10 mg 2-3x/week; 10 mg vials (community, checked 2026-09-27)
  2. [2] Path To Peptides: 5-10 mg/week SC, once weekly or split Mon/Wed/Fri; morning, empty stomach; 20 mg vial (vendor, checked 2026-09-27)
  3. [3] Dr. Iman Bar: 5 mg SC 2-3x weekly or 1 mg daily; stacked with SS-31, CJC-1295, ipamorelin; 8-12 weeks on, 4 off (practitioner, checked 2026-09-27)
  4. [4] Healthspan: 2.5-10 mg SC, titrated 3-5x/week up to daily over 12 weeks; 8-12 weeks on, 4 off (vendor, checked 2026-09-27)
  5. [5] OpenStax, Rice University: 12.3 Preparing Unit-Dose Packaged Medications - Clinical Nursing Skills
  6. [6] East Carolina University College of Nursing: Reconstitution of Medication
  7. [7] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Considerations for Blood Glucose Monitoring and Insulin Administration
  8. [8] DailyMed, National Library of Medicine: SEROSTIM (somatropin) for injection - prescribing information and instructions for use
  9. [9] GenScript: Peptide Storage and Handling Guidelines
  10. [10] DailyMed, National Library of Medicine: OZEMPIC (semaglutide) injection - prescribing information
  11. [11] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Preventing Unsafe Injection Practices
  12. [12] Pfizer: Bacteriostatic Water for Injection, USP - prescribing information
  13. [13] OpenStax, Rice University: 12.5 Administering Subcutaneous Injections - Clinical Nursing Skills
  14. [14] MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine: Subcutaneous (SQ) injections
  15. [15] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Chapter 6: Vaccine Administration - Pink Book
  16. [16] US Food and Drug Administration: Best Way to Get Rid of Used Needles and Other Sharps
  17. [17] US Food and Drug Administration: DOs and DON'Ts of Proper Sharps Disposal
  18. [18] 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.
  19. [19] Kim KH, Son JM, Benayoun BA et al. The Mitochondrial-Encoded Peptide MOTS-c Translocates to the Nucleus to Regulate Nuclear Gene Expression in Response to Metabolic Stress. Cell Metab. 2018;28(3):516-524.e7.
  20. [20] Zheng Y, Wei Z, Wang T. MOTS-c: A promising mitochondrial-derived peptide for therapeutic exploitation. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023;14:1120533.
  21. [21] Kong BS, Lee C, Cho YM. Mitochondrial-Encoded Peptide MOTS-c, Diabetes, and Aging-Related Diseases. Diabetes Metab J. 2023;47(3):315-324.
  22. [22] Reynolds JC, Lai RW, Woodhead JST et al. MOTS-c is an exercise-induced mitochondrial-encoded regulator of age-dependent physical decline and muscle homeostasis. Nat Commun. 2021;12(1):470.
  23. [23] von Walden F, Fernandez-Gonzalo R, Norrbom J et al. Acute endurance exercise stimulates circulating levels of mitochondrial-derived peptides in humans. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2021;131(3):1035-1042.
  24. [24] Dieli-Conwright CM, Sami N, Norris MK et al. Effect of aerobic and resistance exercise on the mitochondrial peptide MOTS-c in Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White breast cancer survivors. Sci Rep. 2021;11(1):16916.
  25. [25] Cuyàs E, Verdura S, Martin-Castillo B et al. Circulating levels of MOTS-c in patients with breast cancer treated with metformin. Aging (Albany NY). 2022;15(4):892-897.
  26. [26] ClinicalTrials.gov, National Library of Medicine: NCT07505745 - A Phase 2a, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of MOTS-c in adults with prediabetes and overweight/obesity (Hudson Biotech), record verified March 2026
  27. [27] US Food and Drug Administration: Certain Bulk Drug Substances for Use in Compounding That May Present Significant Safety Risks - entry for MOTs-C, content current as of 04/22/2026
  28. [28] Elhusseiny R, Ihsan M, Labidi M et al. Repeated Heat Stress Modulates the Levels of the Mitokines MOTS-C and FGF21 in Active Men during Calf Muscle Immobilization. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2025;57(12):2764-2774.