Humanin
HN, MDP, mitochondrial-derived peptide
A peptide encoded inside mitochondrial DNA rather than the nucleus, with genuinely novel biology, higher levels in centenarians, and no human trial at all.
Preclinical only
Not approved anywhere and never studied in a human trial. Sold as research material.
What it is
Humanin is a 24 amino acid peptide encoded in the mitochondrial genome, not the nuclear one. Along with MOTS-c it belongs to a small class of mitochondrial-derived peptides, and their existence rewrote part of the textbook account of what mitochondrial DNA does.
It was discovered in surviving neurons from an Alzheimer's brain, screened for factors that protected cells from amyloid toxicity. It is cytoprotective, anti-apoptotic, and acts partly through a cell surface receptor complex, meaning it functions as a signalling molecule rather than only inside the cell that makes it.
The biology is legitimately novel and interesting.
The evidence and the gap
Circulating humanin declines with age. Higher levels have been reported in the offspring of centenarians, and in long-lived mouse models. It protects cells and tissues in a wide range of animal and cell studies covering neurodegeneration, cardiac ischaemia, diabetes and more.
There has never been a human trial. Not a phase 1, not a safety study, not a pharmacokinetic characterisation.
The association between humanin levels and longevity is the sort of correlation that could run either direction. Healthier mitochondria may produce more humanin, in which case the peptide is a marker of youthful function rather than a cause of it, and injecting it would be treating the readout.
Practical notes
- Anti-apoptotic is the mechanism and also the concern. Keeping cells alive that would otherwise die is beneficial for neurons under stress and is exactly what a cancer cell requires. Nobody has studied that trade in a person.
- This is the same tier as MOTS-c for the same reason. Interesting mitochondrial biology, marketed considerably ahead of the human evidence.
- A correlation in centenarians is not a protocol. It is a starting point for research that has not yet been done.
Side effects and warning signs
Commonly reported
- Injection-site irritation
- No systematic human safety dataset exists, so the absence of reported effects reflects absence of study
Stop and get medical help
- Humanin is cytoprotective and anti-apoptotic, which is precisely the activity a tumour benefits from. This is a mechanistic concern nobody has characterised in humans
- Any unexplained systemic symptom during use, given there is no established baseline
Sources
From the community
Discussion for this compound concentrates in r/longevity and r/Peptides.
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