AOD-9604.INFO explains a modified fragment of human growth hormone in plain language. We do not sell anything.
AOD-9604
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The Basics

What Is AOD-9604?

Please note: This page explains the compound itself. The site does not cover doses or ways of using it.

AOD-9604 is a laboratory-made peptide, which means a short chain of amino acids. It copies a small part of human growth hormone, the protein the pituitary gland releases to control growth and many aspects of metabolism.

A Piece Taken From the End

Growth hormone has 191 amino acids. The last part of the chain, positions 177 to 191, reads Leu-Arg-Ile-Val-Gln-Cys-Arg-Val-Ser-Glu-Gly-Ser-Cys-Gly-Phe. AOD-9604 is this 15-amino-acid segment with a tyrosine placed in front, giving 16 in total. Scientists sometimes write it as Tyr-hGH177-191.

The researchers who designed it wanted to keep the part of growth hormone that influences fat while leaving out the parts responsible for growth and for raising blood sugar.

How It Differs From Growth Hormone

  • No receptor binding: in laboratory tests it did not attach to the growth hormone receptor, which the full hormone uses for most of its effects.
  • No growth signal: it did not make cells divide in the way growth hormone does.
  • No IGF-1 rise: in human trials it did not increase IGF-1, the growth factor that growth hormone normally pushes up.
  • Blood sugar: neither the animal studies nor the human trials found that it worsened glucose control, a known side effect of the full hormone.

What It Appears to Do in Fat Tissue

In rodent studies the fragment reduced lipogenesis, the process of building new fat, and increased lipolysis, the breakdown of stored fat into fatty acids and glycerol. Treated obese mice also burned more fat for energy.

Exactly how this happens is still unclear. One 2001 study found that AOD-9604 raised levels of the beta-3 adrenergic receptor, a switch on fat cells that responds to adrenaline. In mice lacking that receptor, however, the fragment still increased fat burning in the short term, so the receptor cannot be the whole explanation.

Key Points

  • AOD-9604 is a 16-amino-acid copy of the tail end of growth hormone, plus one tyrosine.
  • It does not act on the growth hormone receptor.
  • In animals it slowed fat gain and increased fat breakdown.
  • Its exact mechanism has never been fully worked out.