Peptides Database

The body already uses peptides to control a huge range of functions.

Insulin is a peptide. So are many hormones involved in growth, appetite, metabolism, reproduction, and tissue repair.

Most peptides work by binding to a specific receptor and delivering a fairly specific signal.

That’s also what makes synthetic peptides interesting.

Many are copies, fragments, or modified versions of signalling molecules the body already uses.

This can make them more targeted than a plant extract or broad-spectrum drug.

But a targeted signal can still have wider effects.

Dose, duration, receptor distribution, and downstream signalling all matter, especially when a peptide is used at levels the body wouldn’t normally produce.

Peptides are made from amino acids, which means the digestive system generally treats them like any other protein and breaks them apart.

Most therefore have very poor oral bioavailability.

Some have been modified or formulated to survive digestion, but many are given by injection, while others are used intranasally or topically.

That makes route especially important.

Injected products need to be sterile, accurately dosed, and correctly stored.

With unapproved peptides, the quality of the vial itself can be as important as the pharmacology of the compound.

Each monograph lists the route near the top because it changes both how the peptide works and what risks come with using it.

The peptides here don’t all belong in the same category.

11 are established prescription medicines, and 5 more are approved outside the West.

6 are still being studied in clinical trials.

28 are research chemicals sold online without approval for human use.

A smaller number — 4 cosmetic ingredients and 2 ordinary supplements — sit outside both.

That distinction matters.

An approved medicine has a defined manufacturing standard, labelled dose, established indications, and a much larger safety record.

A research peptide may have little or no controlled human data at all.

Each monograph lists its regulatory status separately from the evidence for what it does.

Check that before treating something sold online like an ordinary supplement.

Peptides aren’t herbal medicines.

They’re included because they increasingly sit beside herbs, supplements, and nootropics in the same conversations about sleep, cognition, metabolism, recovery, ageing, and performance.

That makes them useful to cover on the same terms:

what the compound is, what it does, what dose has actually been studied, how strong the evidence is, and what the risks are.

They also make a useful comparison.

Some peptide drugs produce effects that herbs simply don’t.

Likewise, an isolated receptor-targeting peptide is doing something very different from a whole plant containing dozens of active constituents.

They’re different tools and should be assessed as such.

• Nootropics — the overlapping cognitive and performance compounds.
• Supplements — vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and other isolated compounds.
• Plant Constituents — the chemistry index, including the amino acids and proteins peptides are built from.
• Explore the Herbs — the whole-plant side of TSE.