Home / Research library / AOD-9604
Compound guide
AOD-9604: what the research covers
The last sixteen residues of growth hormone, isolated on the hypothesis that the fat-metabolising effect of the hormone could be separated from everything else it does.
What AOD-9604 is
AOD-9604 is the carboxy-terminal fragment of human growth hormone, residues 177 to 191, with a tyrosine added at the amino end. It is widely listed as fragment 176-191, which refers to the same region under a different numbering convention.
The rationale is dissociation. Growth hormone has anabolic and growth-promoting effects mediated largely through IGF-1, and a separate effect on lipid metabolism. Early work localised much of the lipolytic activity to this terminal region, raising the possibility of a fragment that mobilised fat without raising IGF-1, without affecting glucose handling and without the growth-promoting actions that make full-length somatropin unsuitable for many questions.
Reported mechanisms focus on stimulation of lipolysis and inhibition of lipogenesis in adipocytes, with beta-3 adrenergic receptor involvement proposed in some work. The fragment does not bind the growth hormone receptor in the way the intact hormone does.
What happened when it was tested in people
This is one of the few compounds here with a clear clinical record, and the record is largely negative. AOD-9604 progressed to human trials for obesity and the efficacy endpoints were not met; development for that indication was discontinued. It has since been examined in cartilage and osteoarthritis contexts, a different application with its own small literature.
That history is the most useful thing a researcher can know about it. The in-vitro lipolytic findings are reproducible, and the dissociation from IGF-1 appears genuine — so as a tool for interrogating the lipolytic arm of growth hormone action in a cell system, the fragment does what it is supposed to do. As a candidate for the effect it was developed to produce in a whole organism, it failed, and the gap between those two statements is itself an instructive case in translation.
Summaries that present AOD-9604 as an established fat-loss agent are not describing the trial literature.
How Amino Club supplies it
Supplied lyophilised in sealed vials as AOD-9604, specified at 99% purity or better by HPLC with identity confirmed by mass spectrometry and released against the batch Certificate of Analysis; the lab testing page covers how that is tested.
The region contains a disulfide bridge, so correct folding matters and reducing conditions should be avoided in preparation. Numbering conventions are a practical trap: material labelled 176-191 and material labelled 177-191 with an added tyrosine are the same compound, while a genuinely different fragment boundary would be a different molecule — which is one reason the mass figure on the Certificate of Analysis is worth reading rather than assuming. The powder is stored below −18 °C; diluents are under reconstitution supplies.
Related reading
AOD-9604 sits in the metabolic research peptides group, and because it derives from growth hormone it also relates to HGH 191AA, tesamorelin and the rest of the growth hormone group.
Every guide is indexed in the research library. Certificates and storage are covered on the FAQ, quantity pricing through bulk and wholesale.
Research use only
AOD-9604 supplied by Amino Club is a laboratory reference material. It is not a medicine, not a supplement, and not for human or veterinary use, and no dosing guidance or administration protocol is provided. The full terms are in the research use policy.