Humanin Peptide: What It Is, What the Research Shows and Why There Is No Human Dose

Humanin is a 24 amino acid peptide found in 2001 in a screen for genes that stop nerve cells dying in Alzheimer's disease. It is the first of the "mitochondrial-derived peptides", the family that also includes MOTS-c. Every effect behind its reputation for longevity, brain and heart protection comes from cells and animals. No one has given humanin to a person in a registered trial.

What humanin is

Hashimoto and colleagues found it in a gene library built from the occipital cortex of an Alzheimer's patient: a short peptide, sequence MAPRGFSCLLLLTSEIDLPVKRRA, that "abolishes death of neuronal cells caused by multiple different types of familial Alzheimer's disease genes" (Hashimoto 2001, PNAS). Two years later a Nature paper showed the mitochondrial genome carries an identical reading frame, that humanin binds Bax, a protein that triggers cell death, and stops it moving to the mitochondria (Guo 2003, Nature). That is why humanin is described as a mitochondrial-derived peptide (Lee 2013 review).

The version most studies use is HNG, humanin with serine 14 swapped for glycine. In the original paper 10 nM of HNG protected neurons as fully as 10 µM of plain humanin, a 1,000-fold difference in concentration. Its proposed receptors include a CNTF receptor, WSX-1 and gp130 complex on neurons (Hashimoto 2009) and FPRL1 on immune cells (Ying 2004), and it binds IGFBP-3 (Ikonen 2003).

What the research shows

• Lifespan and healthspan, mice. Old female mice given HNG twice a week for 14 months, from 18 months of age, had less visceral fat, more lean mass and lower IGF-I, but "there was no significant difference in lifespans between the groups" (Yen 2020, Aging). Worms engineered to make more humanin lived 19.0 days on average against 17.7.
• Heart attack, mice. One dose of HNG before a coronary blockage cut the damaged area from 58% of the area at risk to 28% at 2 mg/kg; 4 mg/kg did no better (Muzumdar 2010).
• Alzheimer's model, mice. HNG sprayed into the nose for about three months lowered amyloid beta 42 in female mice (46.0 to 10.4 pmol/g) but not significantly in males, with a memory test improvement in males only (Niikura 2011).
• Insulin sensitivity, rats. Humanin infused into the brain improved insulin sensitivity, and an analog injected into a vein lowered blood sugar by nearly half in diabetic rats over four hours (Muzumdar 2009).

Humanin in people: levels, not doses

The human data are measurements of the body's own humanin. Circulating humanin falls with age in mice and in people (Muzumdar 2009); children of centenarians (18) had higher levels than matched controls (19) (Yen 2020); and in 40 patients, those with poor coronary blood vessel function had lower humanin, 1.3 against 2.2 ng/mL (Widmer 2013). The Yen paper itself calls human association studies "equivocal". ClinicalTrials.gov lists no study that gives humanin or HNG as a treatment, only studies that measure it (registry search, 8 November 2026).

Humanin dosage: the animal doses and what they convert to

There is no human dose. The table converts the mouse doses with the body-surface factor in FDA's 2005 guidance (divide a mouse mg/kg dose by 12.3; FDA guidance) for a 70 kg adult. It ignores route, stability and species differences, so read the last column as arithmetic that shows the scale, not as a dose.

Community dose figures circulate on vendor pages; none has a published source behind it. The Yen authors put the lack of a lifespan effect down to "this low of a dose", so even in mice the right dose is unknown.

Safety and sport

With no human trial there is no human safety data, no known side-effect rate and no long-term data. Humanin is not approved anywhere. It is not named on the WADA 2026 Prohibited List, but as a substance with no approval for human use it falls under S0, non-approved substances, prohibited at all times (WADA). Its sister peptide MOTS-c is named outright under S4.

Frequently asked questions

What is humanin?

Humanin is a 24 amino acid peptide first described in 2001 as a factor that stops nerve cells dying from Alzheimer's-related damage. An identical sequence sits in mitochondrial DNA, so it is called a mitochondrial-derived peptide, like MOTS-c.

What is the humanin dosage?

There is no human dose, because no registered trial has given humanin to people. Mouse studies used HNG at 0.2 to 4 mg/kg; converted by FDA's body-surface method for a 70 kg adult that is about 1 to 23 mg, which is arithmetic, not a dose.

What is HNG?

HNG is humanin with serine 14 replaced by glycine. In the 2001 paper it protected neurons at 10 nM, where plain humanin needed 10 micromolar, a 1,000-fold difference in concentration. Most animal studies use HNG.

Does humanin extend lifespan?

Not in the one mouse lifespan study. Old female mice given HNG twice a week for 14 months had less visceral fat and lower IGF-I, but lived no longer than controls. Worms engineered to make more humanin lived about 7% longer.

Is humanin banned by WADA?

Humanin is not named on the 2026 list, but as a substance with no approval for human use it falls under S0, non-approved substances, which are prohibited at all times.

Sources (checked 8 November 2026)

1. Hashimoto Y et al. A rescue factor abolishing neuronal cell death by a wide spectrum of familial Alzheimer's disease genes and Abeta. PNAS 2001;98(11):6336-6341. Checked 8 November 2026.
2. Hashimoto Y et al. Detailed characterization of neuroprotection by a rescue factor humanin. J Neurosci 2001;21(23):9235-9245. Checked 8 November 2026.
3. Guo B et al. Humanin peptide suppresses apoptosis by interfering with Bax activation. Nature 2003;423(6938):456-461. Checked 8 November 2026.
4. Lee C, Yen K, Cohen P. Humanin: a harbinger of mitochondrial-derived peptides? Trends Endocrinol Metab 2013;24(5):222-228. Checked 8 November 2026.
5. Muzumdar RH et al. PLoS One 2009;4(7):e6334 (humanin and insulin action in rats; circulating humanin and age). Checked 8 November 2026.
6. Muzumdar RH et al. Acute humanin therapy attenuates myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury in mice. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2010;30(10):1940-1948. Checked 8 November 2026.
7. Yen K et al. The mitochondrial derived peptide humanin is a regulator of lifespan and healthspan. Aging 2020;12(12):11185-11199. Checked 8 November 2026.
8. Niikura T, Sidahmed E, Hirata-Fukae C, Aisen PS, Matsuoka Y. PLoS One 2011;6(1):e16259 (intranasal S14G-humanin in 3xTg-AD mice). Checked 8 November 2026.
9. Widmer RJ et al. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2013;304(3):H393-H397 (humanin and coronary endothelial function in 40 patients). Checked 8 November 2026.
10. Hashimoto Y et al. Humanin inhibits neuronal cell death by interacting with a cytokine receptor complex involving CNTF receptor alpha/WSX-1/gp130. Mol Biol Cell 2009;20(12):2864-2873. Checked 8 November 2026.
11. Ying G et al. J Immunol 2004;172(11):7078-7085 (humanin and the FPRL1 receptor). Checked 8 November 2026.
12. Ikonen M et al. PNAS 2003;100(22):13042-13047 (humanin binds IGFBP-3). Checked 8 November 2026.
13. ClinicalTrials.gov search for humanin, 8 November 2026. Checked 8 November 2026.
14. FDA guidance: Estimating the maximum safe starting dose in initial clinical trials for therapeutics in adult healthy volunteers, 2005. Checked 8 November 2026.
15. WADA 2026 Prohibited List. Checked 8 November 2026.

Humanin is an unapproved research compound; every figure is from the animal and cell studies listed. Labels and trial records change; the leaflet in your box and your prescriber come first. Educational content, not medical advice.