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Humanin

Also known as Humanin, HN, HNG (S14G-humanin, analogue), MT-RNR2 peptide

Mitochondrially encoded 24-amino-acid peptide that inhibits cell death; studied as a marker, not a drug.

preclinical Immune & longevity research chemical

At a glance

Category
Immune & longevity
Status
research chemical
Route
intraperitoneal, intracerebroventricular or subcutaneous in animal studies
Half-life
short; on the order of tens of minutes in animal studies. Not established in humans.
Onset
not established in humans
Molecular weight
approximately 2687 g/mol
Sequence
MAPRGFSCLLLLTSEIDLPVKRRA (24 amino acids; the mitochondrially translated variant has 21 amino acids)

Not registered anywhere in the world and never administered to humans in a clinical trial. Humanin is an endogenous peptide that has been studied almost exclusively in laboratory research and as a blood biomarker. What is sold as 'humanin' is a research chemical.

Doping status: Not listed by WADA

Checked against the WADA 2026 Prohibited List. For a specific product and country, Global DRO is the lookup athletes are expected to use — the List names substances, not brand names.

Mechanism of action

Humanin is one of the mitochondrially derived peptides (MDPs): it is encoded by an open reading frame within the MT-RNR2 gene in the 16S rRNA region of mitochondrial DNA. It was discovered in 2001 during a search for factors that protect neurons against amyloid-beta toxicity.

It inhibits apoptosis by binding pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins, notably BAX and tBID, preventing them from translocating to the mitochondrial membrane. Extracellular humanin also binds a receptor complex made up of CNTFR, WSX-1 and gp130, and the formyl peptide receptor FPRL1/FPR2, activating STAT3 signalling.

Metabolically, humanin has been described as improving insulin sensitivity and inhibiting hepatic glucose production, partly through hypothalamic signalling. Circulating humanin concentrations fall with age and have been linked in observational research to lifespan and to conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome.

An important caveat: the great majority of this work was done with the synthetic, far more potent analogue S14G-humanin (HNG), not with humanin itself. Effects of HNG in cell culture are not evidence of effects of humanin in humans.

What the research shows

Humanin is scientifically interesting but therapeutically unproven. There are no published clinical studies in which humanin or an analogue has been administered to humans. The human research that exists is observational: it measures endogenous humanin concentrations and correlates them with age or disease. A correlation between low humanin levels and ageing says nothing about the effect of administering it.

Research in humans

No published human intervention studies. There is observational work: plasma humanin concentrations fall with age; offspring of centenarians have been reported to have higher levels; reduced humanin production has been described in patients with Q fever fatigue syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome 1. Ex vivo work on human muscle cells shows that S14G-humanin and MOTS-c attenuate dexamethasone-induced atrophy 4 — that is cell culture, not treatment of humans.

Animal and lab research

In rodent models, (S14G-)humanin protects against amyloid-beta toxicity, improves memory performance, reduces infarct size after ischaemia, improves insulin sensitivity and slows atherosclerosis. The effects are reproducible within the models used, but were almost always obtained with the analogue HNG and with routes of administration (such as directly into the cerebral ventricles) that do not translate to practice.

Caveats. No human dose, no human pharmacokinetics, no human safety profile. The biological activity of the endogenous peptide is considerably lower than that of the analogue studied. As a 24-amino-acid peptide, its stability after subcutaneous administration is uncertain. Any claim about anti-ageing effects in humans is at present extrapolation from mice and cell culture.

What it is used for

  • Basic research into mitochondrially derived peptides and cellular senescence
  • Biomarker research: plasma humanin as an indicator of mitochondrial function and age, including reports of reduced production in Q fever fatigue syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome 1
  • Preclinical research into neurodegeneration, insulin resistance and atherosclerosis
  • Outside research: use as an anti-ageing and neuroprotective agent, without any clinical basis

Dosing

Dose
No established dose in humans. Values of around 1-10 mg per day circulate in user protocols; these rest on nothing.
Frequency
Not established
Route
Subcutaneous in user protocols; mainly intraperitoneal or intracerebroventricular in animal studies
Duration
Not established
  • There is not a single published human dose-response study. Every dose cited comes from supplier documentation or forum protocols, not from clinical research.
  • Animal doses are often expressed in mg/kg and are sometimes administered directly into the cerebral ventricles; these cannot be converted into a subcutaneous human dose.
  • Many preclinical results were obtained with the analogue S14G-humanin, which is up to approximately 1000 times more potent than humanin itself. Material sold as 'humanin' is generally not that analogue.

These figures describe what the literature and published protocols report. They are not advice and not a dosing instruction.

Reconstitution

Vial sizes
5 mg, 10 mg
Solvent
bacteriostatic water (0.9% benzyl alcohol)
Storage
Reconstituted 2-8 °C. Powder in the freezer at -20 °C, protected from light.

Worked example

10 mg vial + 2 ml bacteriostatic water = 5 mg/ml. 1 mg corresponds to 0.2 ml, that is 20 units on a U100 insulin syringe.

Humanin is hydrophobic and dissolves poorly in water; suppliers sometimes advise a drop of dilute acetic acid or DMSO solution first. Stability in solution is not publicly documented.

Work it out for Humanin

Safety

Side effects

  • Unknown — there are no human studies in which side effects have been recorded
  • Injection site reaction (expected with any injectable peptide)
  • Theoretical concern: inhibiting apoptosis is a mechanism that may also promote the survival of damaged or malignant cells; humanin has been described in both directions in tumour biology

Do not use if

  • Active or past malignancy — the anti-apoptotic mechanism is theoretically unfavourable and has not been studied
  • Pregnancy and breastfeeding: no data
  • In effect: there is no situation in which use in humans is scientifically supported

Interactions

Not studied. There are no data on interactions with medication, supplements or other peptides.

Sources