Underground Biohacking
Hormonal

Kisspeptin-10

Chris Hallewell, founder of Underground Biohacking

By , Founder, Underground Biohacking

Last reviewed

Research use only. Approved for fertility-clinic use in the EU/UK in some protocols.

Kisspeptin-10 is a ten amino acid piece of a natural reproductive hormone. In men, short infusions raise LH and testosterone. In women the response depends on the menstrual cycle. The trials on sexual desire and mood used the longer form, kisspeptin-54, not kisspeptin-10. All of this human work used supervised infusions in a hospital. Nobody has tested repeated self-injection. The FDA lists kisspeptin-10 as a substance that may present significant safety risks.

What is Kisspeptin-10?

Kisspeptin-10 is a short peptide. A peptide is a small chain of amino acids, the building blocks of protein. Your body makes a longer version first. The KISS1 gene codes for a 54 amino acid peptide, which researchers isolated from human placenta and named metastin. Kisspeptin-10 is simply the last ten amino acids of that chain. The tail end is the part that does the work. Kisspeptin-10 binds the same receptor as the full peptide. That receptor sits on nerve cells in the hypothalamus, the brain's hormone control room. When kisspeptin hits it, those cells release GnRH. GnRH is the signal that tells the pituitary gland to make LH and FSH, and those two then drive the testes or the ovaries. The gene has a second history. KISS1 was first found as a metastasis suppressor. That is a gene which stops cancer spreading, and it was spotted in melanoma cells. The odd name comes from that early cancer work. Reproduction came later. Most human research now uses kisspeptin for fertility and sexual health rather than cancer.

What is Kisspeptin-10 used for?

  • In healthy men, intravenous kisspeptin-10 raised LH, increased LH pulse frequency, and lifted testosterone.[4]Human study
  • Kisspeptin-10 raised LH and FSH in men, but in women it worked only near ovulation and not in the early follicular phase.[5]Human study
  • In two women whose periods had stopped because of high prolactin, kisspeptin-10 restarted LH and FSH release.[8]Human study
  • In men with low sexual desire, kisspeptin-54, the longer form and not kisspeptin-10, changed sexual brain activity and increased physical arousal.[10]Human study
  • In healthy men, kisspeptin-54, again not kisspeptin-10, reduced negative mood during the infusion.[7]Human study
  • In cultured cells and in mice, metastin, the full length parent peptide, blocked cell invasion and cut lung metastases.[1]Animal or lab study only
  • In hamster ovary cells, the ten amino acid tail, which is kisspeptin-10, blocked cell migration as strongly as the whole peptide did.[2]Animal or lab study only
Kisspeptin-10 dosage chart
Typical dose25-100mcg per injection, 1-3 times per week
Cycle length4-8 weeks per protocol
FormInjectable (subcutaneous)

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How does Kisspeptin-10 work?

A decapeptide encoded by the KISS1 gene. The most potent known stimulator of GnRH release. Used in fertility research, hormone-axis recovery, and as a probe of HPG-axis function.

How much Kisspeptin-10 should you take?

25-100mcg per injection, 1-3 times per week

How long should you run Kisspeptin-10?

4-8 weeks per protocol

How is Kisspeptin-10 supplied?

Injectable (subcutaneous)

What are the side effects of Kisspeptin-10?

EffectHow seriousWhat to watch
No study has tested repeated kisspeptin-10 self-injection over weeks or months in people. Every human trial ran for hours, in a hospital, with monitoring.UnknownNothing published covers long term use, so there is no honest watch list. This is a question for a doctor.
In a trial in women with low sexual desire, kisspeptin-54 caused no reported adverse effects over a short infusion.[9]None reported over hoursNone over that timescale
TAK-448 is a drug built from the ten amino acid tail of kisspeptin. In healthy men, mild adverse events were reported in about a quarter of people.[6]Mild, graded 1 to 2How you feel in the hours and days after any exposure.
Non stop exposure to that same analogue pushed testosterone down, not up, and held it down. Constant stimulation can shut the axis off instead of switching it on.[6]Potentially seriousSigns of low testosterone: fatigue, low libido, low mood, poor recovery. Blood tests through a doctor.
Kisspeptin moves your reproductive hormones by design. In men, infused kisspeptin-54 raised LH, FSH and testosterone together. This is a hormone axis drug, not a supplement.[3]Expected effect, still a real changeLH, FSH, testosterone and oestradiol, checked by a doctor.

Is Kisspeptin-10 legal in 2026?

Checked on 6 August 2026. The FDA names Kisspeptin-10 in category 2 of its bulk drug substances list, under section 503A. It was added on 29 September 2023, and the page was current as of 22 April 2026. Category 2 means the agency has identified potential significant safety risks. The FDA says compounded drugs containing kisspeptin-10 may pose a risk for immunogenicity, which means your immune system may react to them. It also flags peptide impurities and difficulty pinning down what is really in the ingredient. The agency states it has no, or only limited, safety information for the proposed routes. So it cannot say whether the drug would cause harm in humans. Kisspeptin-10 is not an approved medicine anywhere in that list.

Status checked against the primary source.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does kisspeptin-10 raise testosterone?
In men, yes, in the short term. In a hospital study, kisspeptin-10 raised LH quickly, and a continuous infusion raised testosterone as well. That is the whole point of the peptide. It sits above the reproductive axis and switches it on. But those were supervised infusions lasting hours. Nobody has shown that repeated self-injection gives a lasting testosterone gain. One kisspeptin analogue did the opposite when it was given non stop.
Does kisspeptin-10 improve libido?
The sexual desire studies did not use kisspeptin-10. Imperial College London ran randomised trials in men and in women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder. Both used kisspeptin-54, the longer form. In men, kisspeptin-54 changed sexual brain activity and increased physical arousal. In women it changed how the brain processed erotic and attraction cues. Whether the ten amino acid version does the same thing in people has not been tested.
Is kisspeptin-10 the same thing as kisspeptin-54?
No. They come from the same gene and act on the same receptor, but they are different peptides. Kisspeptin-54 is the full chain your body makes. Kisspeptin-10 is the last ten amino acids of that chain. In lab cells the short tail is as potent as the whole peptide. In people the two have been tested in different studies, for different questions, so results from one do not automatically carry over.
Does it work the same way in women and in men?
No. One study gave kisspeptin-10 to both men and women. The men showed a clear rise in LH and FSH. The women responded near ovulation, but showed no gonadotropin rise at all during the early follicular phase. So where a woman sits in her cycle changes the answer completely. That is real biology, not a technique problem, and it makes the effect in women much harder to predict.
Is kisspeptin-10 legal?
It is not an approved medicine. The FDA has placed it in category 2 of its bulk drug substances list under section 503A. That means the agency has flagged potential significant safety risks, and says it lacks the information to know whether kisspeptin-10 would harm people. Nothing about that position has changed. An advisory committee vote is advice, not a rule change, and the FDA has stated these substances were never lawfully compounded under 503A.
What should I ask a doctor about it?
Ask what your LH, FSH, testosterone or oestradiol actually look like now, and what is driving the symptom you want fixed. Ask whether an approved treatment already exists for that problem. Ask what a hormone panel would show before and after anything you take. If low desire is the issue, ask about the causes a clinic can treat today. The trials that showed a sexual effect used a different peptide, and they are not a treatment yet.

References

  1. 1.Ohtaki T, et al. (2001). Metastasis suppressor gene KiSS-1 encodes peptide ligand of a G-protein-coupled receptor. Nature. PMID: 11385580. DOI: 10.1038/35079135.
  2. 2.Hori A, et al. (2001). Metastin suppresses the motility and growth of CHO cells transfected with its receptor. Biochemical and biophysical research communications. PMID: 11527393. DOI: 10.1006/bbrc.2001.5470.
  3. 3.Dhillo WS, et al. (2005). Kisspeptin-54 stimulates the hypothalamic-pituitary gonadal axis in human males. The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism. PMID: 16174713. DOI: 10.1210/jc.2005-1468.
  4. 4.George JT, et al. (2011). Kisspeptin-10 is a potent stimulator of LH and increases pulse frequency in men. The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism. PMID: 21632807. DOI: 10.1210/jc.2011-0089.
  5. 5.Jayasena CN, et al. (2011). The effects of kisspeptin-10 on reproductive hormone release show sexual dimorphism in humans. The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism. PMID: 21976724. DOI: 10.1210/jc.2011-1408.
  6. 6.MacLean DB, et al. (2014). Sustained exposure to the investigational Kisspeptin analog, TAK-448, down-regulates testosterone into the castration range in healthy males and in patients with prostate cancer: results from two phase 1 studies. The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism. PMID: 24762108. DOI: 10.1210/jc.2013-4236.
  7. 7.Comninos AN, et al. (2017). Kisspeptin modulates sexual and emotional brain processing in humans. The Journal of clinical investigation. PMID: 28112678. DOI: 10.1172/JCI89519.
  8. 8.Millar RP, et al. (2017). Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Ovarian Axis Reactivation by Kisspeptin-10 in Hyperprolactinemic Women With Chronic Amenorrhea. Journal of the Endocrine Society. PMID: 29264460. DOI: 10.1210/js.2017-00328.
  9. 9.Thurston L, et al. (2022). Effects of Kisspeptin Administration in Women With Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA network open. PMID: 36287566. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.36131.
  10. 10.Mills EG, et al. (2023). Effects of Kisspeptin on Sexual Brain Processing and Penile Tumescence in Men With Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA network open. PMID: 36735255. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.54313.

This content is for educational purposes only. These compounds are intended for research use. Nothing here is medical advice.