Kisspeptin-10

What is kisspeptin-10?

Kisspeptins are peptides formed by cleavage from a 145-amino-acid precursor protein produced by the KISS1 gene. This cleavage yields kisspeptin-54, kisspeptin-14, kisspeptin-13 and kisspeptin-10; the number shows the number of amino acids in the chain. All carry a shared terminal sequence corresponding to kisspeptin-10, and in laboratory tests the form that stimulates the kisspeptin receptor most strongly has been kisspeptin-10. ^[1]

Kisspeptin-10 lives very briefly in the blood. According to human data cited in the FDA’s 2024 assessment, its half-life in healthy men receiving an intravenous infusion is about 3.8 minutes. ^[10] For this reason, most studies were done with a single intravenous dose or infusions lasting hours.

There are also licensed drugs that stimulate the same axis at different points: gonadorelin, a synthetic copy of the hypothalamic hormone, and hCG, which acts like LH, are covered in a separate guide.

Detailed guideGonadorelin and hCG: licensed use, misuse and legal status→

What does kisspeptin do in the body?

The KISS1 gene was identified in 1996 in melanoma and breast cancer cells as a gene that suppresses the spread of cancer; for this reason its name was for a time “metastin”. Its role in reproduction was understood later: genetic changes that disrupt kisspeptin signaling lead to delayed or absent puberty, and changes that over-activate the signal lead to early puberty. ^[1]

Kisspeptin neurons in the hypothalamus also produce neurokinin B and regulate the activity of GnRH neurons, and therefore the pulsatile release of GnRH. GnRH starts LH and FSH release from the pituitary, and these in turn start sex hormone and egg or sperm production from the ovaries and testes. The 2025 review writes that kisspeptin has also been linked to sexual behavior, placental function and bone health, and that the understanding that it is the natural trigger of ovulation started IVF research. ^[1]

Does it increase LH and testosterone in men?

Most human data on kisspeptin-10 are small studies measuring hormone responses in healthy volunteers.

These studies show that kisspeptin-10 strongly stimulates the reproductive axis in men. However, all of them measure hormone levels; none measures an outcome such as muscle mass, strength, sexual function or fertility. The authors of the Yeung study present their findings as a starting point for developing long-term administration protocols for the treatment of reproductive disorders. ^[4]

Why can the effect diminish when given continuously?

As with GnRH, the rhythm of stimulation matters for kisspeptin. According to the 2025 review, in women with hypothalamic amenorrhea, the LH response to kisspeptin-54 given twice daily decreased markedly on day 14; this is explained by receptor desensitization. The same review reports that an experimental analog developed by modifying the structure of kisspeptin-10 showed tachyphylaxis in men when given by high-dose subcutaneous infusion. ^[1] In the Yeung study too, the LH and FSH rise disappeared with uninterrupted 5-day infusion, while testosterone stayed high. ^[4] That is, continuous administration can eliminate the LH response over time; what happens in the long term was not measured.

Sexual desire and the brain: Imperial College studies

The Imperial College team examined brain responses to sexual and emotional stimuli after kisspeptin with functional MRI (fMRI). In all of these studies, kisspeptin-54 was given as a 75-minute intravenous infusion.

• Comninos et al., 2017: In a double-blind, crossover, placebo-controlled study in 29 healthy young men, kisspeptin increased the activity of limbic brain regions in response to sexual and couple-bonding images and reduced negative mood. Testosterone did not change during this time. ^[5]
• Mills et al., 2023: In a single-center, double-blind, crossover RCT with men with hypoactive sexual desire disorder, 37 people were randomized and 32 completed. In the primary outcome, kisspeptin changed the brain response to sexual videos compared with placebo. In secondary outcomes, penile tumescence increased by up to 56% more than with placebo and the “happiness about sex” score rose. One of the authors is an employee of a contract research company; two authors reported consulting fees outside the study. ^[6]
• Mills et al., 2025: In a double-blind, crossover study of 95 people, the same protocol markedly increased LH but did not change the anxiety score, cortisol, blood pressure or pulse. ^[7]

These findings suggest that kisspeptin acts on brain networks related to sexual response. However, each is a single hospital infusion; it was not shown to improve sexual desire disorder with weeks of use, and none of the studies used kisspeptin-10. ^[6]

Evidence on a licensed sexual desire drug is in a separate guide: PT-141 (bremelanotide)

Triggering egg maturation in IVF treatment

In IVF treatment, after the ovaries are stimulated with drugs, hCG or a GnRH agonist is usually given for the final maturation of the eggs. A serious side effect of hCG is ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). Kisspeptin was investigated as a more “physiological” trigger because it starts the body’s own LH release. ^[1]

• Jayasena et al., 2014: A single dose of kisspeptin-54 was given to 53 women undergoing IVF; egg maturation was observed at every dose tried, fertilization and embryo transfer were performed in 92% of women (49/53), and the clinical pregnancy rate was 23% (12/53). There was no control group. ^[8]
• Abbara et al., 2015: In an open-label, randomized dose study of 60 women at high risk of OHSS, eggs matured in 95% of women. When all doses were evaluated together, the live birth rate per transfer was 45% (51 transfers), and no woman developed moderate, severe or critical OHSS. ^[9]

The Abbara study was done at a single center, Hammersmith Hospital in London; in neither study was kisspeptin directly compared with standard triggers. ^[9] The 2025 review still treats this use as a research topic; kisspeptin-10, according to the FDA, is not a component of an approved product in any country. ^{[1] [10]}

Bodybuilding and “natural testosterone” claims

On the internet, kisspeptin-10 is sold as a peptide that raises testosterone “naturally”, prevents testicular shrinkage or replaces hCG. The FDA’s 2024 assessment records that kisspeptin-10 is promoted on some clinic websites for weight loss and fertility and was offered on one site as an “alternative” to hCG. ^[10]

According to the same FDA assessment, there is no treatment study supporting these claims:

• The aim of four studies in people with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism was not treatment but examining the kisspeptin-GnRH pathway; kisspeptin-10 was given intravenously and the results were mixed.
• In the single relevant study on preserving sperm production while on testosterone therapy, none of the 6 men taking testosterone had an LH response to kisspeptin-10; sperm or pregnancy were not measured.
• As of 2024, no study by the subcutaneous or intramuscular route in men with hypogonadism was known, and there was no published clinical study evaluating the safety of kisspeptin-10 with regular use for more than one day. ^[10] The 12-day study published afterward was done in healthy men and measured hormone levels. ^[4]

The FDA states that evidence is insufficient to reach a conclusion on the efficacy of kisspeptin-10 in male hypogonadism and that approved treatments exist for this disease. ^[10] The tachyphylaxis data above also suggest that with continuous use the LH response may decrease over time. ^[1]

What are the risks and unknowns?

Most of the short-term kisspeptin-10 studies screened by the FDA contained no safety information; no serious side effects were reported. ^[10] In the 2025 study, kisspeptin-54 did not change blood pressure, pulse or cortisol. ^[7] This information belongs to single or day-limited infusions in hospital.

The risks highlighted in the FDA’s 2024 assessment are as follows: ^[10]

• Immune response: Short peptides given subcutaneously can generate an immune response; aggregation and impurities left over from synthesis may increase this risk.
• Product quality: The physical and chemical properties of kisspeptin-10 are not well defined; the peptide is very sensitive to temperature, pH and formulation.
• Animal data: In mice prone to atherosclerosis, 4 weeks of subcutaneous kisspeptin-10 accelerated atherosclerotic lesions and vascular inflammation in the aorta; cell studies also have findings in a similar direction. The FDA describes the significance of these findings in humans as uncertain; not studied in humans.
• Adverse event report: In the FDA’s adverse event database, weight gain and an estrone rise were reported in a 17-year-old male with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism using compounded kisspeptin-10; the temporal relationship was unclear.

General peptide side effects and injection risks are in a separate guide: Peptide side effects

FDA, WADA and Türkiye: what is the legal status?

US: compounding and the advisory committee decision

On September 29, 2023, the FDA placed kisspeptin-10 in category 2 of the bulk substances list for drugs prepared in pharmacies (503A), that is, among “substances that may present significant safety risks”. As reasons, it cites the risk of immune response with some routes of administration, peptide-related impurities, difficulties in characterizing the active ingredient, and the absence or limited availability of safety information for the proposed routes of administration. ^[11] At the advisory committee meeting on October 29, 2024, the FDA recommended that kisspeptin-10, nominated for the treatment of secondary hypogonadism in men, not be added to the list; in its assessment it stated that the substance is not a component of an approved product in any country and is not in the European or Japanese pharmacopeias. ^[10]

The legal meaning of products sold with the “for research purposes” label is in a separate guide: What does research peptide mean?

Sport (WADA)

In the WADA list valid from January 1, 2026, “kisspeptin and its agonist analogs” appear, together with chorionic gonadotropin, LH and gonadorelin, under heading S2.2.1 “peptides that stimulate testosterone in males”. Substances in class S2 are prohibited at all times, in and out of competition, and none is a “specified substance”. ^[12]

Türkiye

The TİTCK (Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency) Licensed Human Medicinal Products List dated October 16, 2026 contains no product with kisspeptin as an active substance. ^[13] Article 19 of Law No. 1262 (İspençiyari ve Tıbbi Müstahzarlar Kanunu) punishes those who manufacture unlicensed preparations and those who knowingly sell, offer for sale or have sold such preparations with imprisonment from one to five years; importing preparations made abroad without a license for commercial purposes counts as smuggling. ^[14]

General legal framework of peptides: Are peptides legal?

Evidence table: claim, population and limits

Limits of this guide

This page summarizes published human studies and official agency assessments on kisspeptin-10 and kisspeptin-54. It gives no dose, cycle, preparation, administration technique or product-sourcing information; administrations in the studies are only that study’s description. Low testosterone, infertility and sexual desire disorders are conditions that must be evaluated with laboratory tests and monitored by a physician.