Shortest active piece of kisspeptin, the brain hormone that triggers LH and testosterone release; tested only in small human studies.
Also called KP-10, Kp-10, Metastin 45-54, Kisspeptin-54 fragment
Kisspeptin is the hormone that sits at the top of the reproductive axis. Neurons in the hypothalamus release it, it switches on the GnRH neurons, and GnRH tells the pituitary to release LH and FSH, which drive testosterone, estrogen, sperm and ovulation. People born with broken kisspeptin receptors do not go through puberty. Kisspeptin-10 is the last 10 amino acids of the full 54-amino-acid hormone and is the smallest piece that still works.
In healthy men, a single intravenous dose raises LH about threefold within 30 minutes, and day-long infusions raised testosterone from about 16.6 to 24.0 nmol/L. In women the response depends on the cycle: it was weak or absent in the early follicular phase in one study and strong around ovulation and after menopause. A 2026 study kept LH up for 12 days in healthy men with daily 8-hour under-the-skin infusions, but a continuous 5-day infusion lost its LH effect. All of this comes from studies of 4 to 15 people run by a handful of academic groups.
Kisspeptin-10 is not approved anywhere. Online it is sold as a research chemical and promoted as a way to raise testosterone without shutting down the testes, or to protect fertility on testosterone therapy. Those uses have not been tested in trials. FDA placed kisspeptin-10 on its Category 2 compounding list in 2023 over immunogenicity and impurity concerns, and WADA prohibits it in male athletes.
What it binds to, and what happens inside the body after that, step by step.
Kisspeptin-10 binds the kisspeptin receptor (KISS1R, formerly GPR54) on GnRH neurons in the hypothalamus. That releases GnRH, which drives the pituitary to release LH and, to a lesser degree, FSH. LH then tells the testes to make testosterone or the ovaries to make estrogen and support ovulation. Because it works upstream of the pituitary, the body's own feedback from sex hormones still shapes the response.
Human results and animal results are kept apart below. A result in rats tells you a mechanism is plausible. It does not tell you what happens in a person.
Small single-blind or open human physiology studies show kisspeptin-10 reliably raises LH and testosterone in men for hours, and in women depending on cycle phase. There are no randomized trials testing a clinical outcome such as fertility, symptoms of low testosterone, or libido with kisspeptin-10. The IVF and brain-imaging studies people quote online used kisspeptin-54, a different and longer-lasting form.
Healthy men, n = 4 to 6 per arm
An IV bolus of 1 µg/kg raised LH from 4.1 to 12.4 IU/L at 30 min; a 22.5-hour infusion raised testosterone from 16.6 to 24.0 nmol/L.
Read the study15 healthy men plus 12 controls, single-blinded, placebo-controlled
Daily 8-hour infusions kept LH raised on day 12 (P = .003 vs vehicle), but a continuous 5-day infusion lost the LH effect while testosterone stayed up.
Read the studyHealthy men and women, n = 4 to 5 per group
Men responded at doses as low as 0.3 nmol/kg; women in the follicular phase showed no LH change even at high doses, while women near ovulation did respond. Plasma half-life was about 4 minutes.
Read the study24 women: 10 follicular phase, 6 postmenopausal, 8 on hormonal contraception
LH rose in follicular, postmenopausal and progestogen-implant users, but not in women on the combined pill; postmenopausal women had the largest response.
Read the study5 men with type 2 diabetes and low testosterone, 7 healthy men
An 11-hour infusion raised testosterone from 8.5 to 11.4 nmol/L and LH from 3.9 to 20.7 IU/L.
Read the studyHealthy men, 5 per dose group
GnRH raised LH about 3 times more than kisspeptin-10 and 2 times more than kisspeptin-54 at the same molar dose.
Read the study2 women with prolactin-related amenorrhea
A 12-hour IV infusion raised LH, FSH, LH pulses, estradiol and inhibin B.
Read the studyNo preclinical studies are listed as key studies here. The human data above carries the evidence.
These are questions the published research has not answered.
No product containing Kisspeptin-10 is approved as a medicine by the FDA.
No kisspeptin product is approved by FDA, EMA or any other major regulator. It is used in academic human research, mostly from Imperial College London and the University of Edinburgh. WADA's 2026 list names kisspeptin and its agonist analogues under S2.2.1 as testosterone-stimulating peptides prohibited in males at all times.
How much of Kisspeptin-10 is left after a single dose
Simple first-order model from the published half-life. Real clearance varies with dose, route, kidney and liver function and formulation. This is not a dosing schedule.
This table records the doses that trials and approved labels used, with the source for each row. It is a record of research, not a recommendation, and it is open to free members.
Which symptoms are expected and which mean stop and get help: side effects and red flags.
Tap a claim to see what the studies found.
It does raise LH and testosterone for hours by working upstream of the pituitary. But continuous dosing for 5 days switched off the LH response, and no study has shown lasting testosterone gains in men with low testosterone.
No study has given kisspeptin-10 alongside testosterone therapy and measured sperm. The evidence for preserving sperm on TRT comes from hCG, not kisspeptin.
A 2017 brain-imaging study in 29 men found more limbic activity in response to sexual images, but it used kisspeptin-54 and measured brain scans, not sexual behavior. No libido outcome has been studied with kisspeptin-10.
A 2014 study in 53 women used kisspeptin-54, not kisspeptin-10, to mature eggs, with a 23% clinical pregnancy rate. It is still experimental and not an approved IVF drug.
In one study women in the early follicular phase did not respond at all, while women near ovulation and after menopause did. Hormonal birth control blocked the response.
These pairings come up often. Almost none have been tested together in a trial, and the evidence note on each says so plainly.
Promoted online to keep the testes active during TRT, in the way hCG is used.
EvidenceUntested. Testosterone suppresses the axis by feedback, and no study has measured sperm or testicular size with this combination.
No approved product, so no labeled storage instructions. In published studies it was prepared to research protocols, not from consumer vials.
No published stability data for reconstituted research-grade kisspeptin-10.
One email when a trial reads out, a label changes or the FDA acts on a peptide. Free, no selling of peptides, unsubscribe any time.