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Reproductive & melanocortin

Kisspeptin-10

Also known as Kp-10, Kisspeptin 10, KISS1-derived decapeptide, kisspeptin-(112-121)

Limited human data

Kisspeptin receptor (KISS1R) agonist peptide; hypothalamic GnRH secretagogue

Not FDA-approved. On FDA's 503A list (May 14, 2026): Category 2, raises significant safety risks. Source, May 14, 2026

Identity. Kisspeptin-10 is the 10-amino-acid C-terminal fragment of the KISS1 gene product (amino acids 112-121 of the parent protein). George 2011 describes it as 'the minimal kisspeptin sequence with full intrinsic bioactivity'. Human sequence: C63H83N17O14, molecular weight 1302.4 g/mol, PubChem CID 25240297 (1 nmol = 1.3024 mcg; 1 mcg = 0.768 nmol). Sequences differ between species, so confirm the product is the human sequence. It is a different molecule from kisspeptin-54, the longer isoform used in the IVF egg-maturation trials. Do not apply kisspeptin-54 doses or findings to kisspeptin-10. Some online sources do not state which isoform they mean. The formulary vial is 10 mg. Kisspeptin-10 is also in a formulary blend with undisclosed composition, so nothing here can be used to dose the blend.

At a glance

These dosages are a helpful guide, not a prescription. Every clinician is expected to do their own due diligence before prescribing.

  1. Start

    150 nmol/h subcutaneous infusion (portable pump, soft cannula)1

    Human study
Frequency
Once daily, 8 h on / 16 h off1
Route
subcutaneous infusion (portable pump, soft cannula)1
Course
12 days1
150 nmol/h is an 8 h pump infusion rate in healthy men, not a bolus dose; the only SC bolus on record (women) was inert.
Calculate this dose

Dosing detail

Human studies

Human study

  • Healthy men, intravenous bolus dose-response (George 2011, Edinburgh)

    0.01 to 3.0 (maximal LH effect at 1) μg/kg2

    Route
    intravenous bolus
    Frequency
    single bolus per study day
    Duration
    acute; LH reported at 30 min
    n
    n = 6 at the 1 μg/kg dose
    Design
    Dose-response, vehicle-controlled, healthy men
    Source quote
    Intravenous bolus kisspeptin-10 resulted in a rapid and dose-dependent rise in serum LH concentration, with maximal stimulation at 1 μg/kg (4.1 ± 0.4 to 12.4 ± 1.7 IU/liter at 30 min, P < 0.001, n = 6). Administration of 3 μg/kg elicited a reduced response vs. 1 μg/kg (P < 0.05).

    Finding. Rapid dose-dependent LH rise, maximal at 1 μg/kg; 3 μg/kg gave a reduced response versus 1 μg/kg.

  • Healthy men, prolonged intravenous infusion (George 2011)

    1.5 and 4 μg/kg · h2

    Route
    intravenous infusion
    Frequency
    continuous
    Duration
    up to 22.5 h
    n
    n = 4 per infusion dose
    Design
    Infusion study, deconvolution analysis of LH pulses, healthy men
    Source quote
    Infusion of kisspeptin-10 at 4 μg/kg · h for 22.5 h elicited an increase in LH from a mean of 5.4 ± 0.7 to 20.8 ± 4.9 IU/liter (n = 4; P < 0.05) and serum testosterone increased from 16.6 ± 2.4 to 24.0 ± 2.5 nmol/liter (P < 0.001).

    Finding. 4 μg/kg·h raised LH and testosterone; 1.5 μg/kg·h raised mean LH and increased LH pulse frequency from 0.7 to 1.0 pulses/h.

  • Healthy men, intravenous bolus, LH threshold (Jayasena 2011, Imperial)

    0.3 (lowest dose with an LH rise) nmol/kg3

    Route
    intravenous bolus
    Frequency
    single bolus
    Duration
    acute
    n
    n = 4-5 per group (women arms); men group size not extracted
    Design
    Physiological study, sexes compared
    Source quote
    serum LH and FSH were elevated after i.v. bolus kisspeptin-10, at doses as low as 0.3 and 1.0 nmol/kg, respectively

    Finding. Serum LH was elevated after iv bolus at doses as low as 0.3 nmol/kg.

  • Healthy men, intravenous bolus, FSH threshold (Jayasena 2011)

    1.0 (lowest dose with an FSH rise) nmol/kg3

    Route
    intravenous bolus
    Frequency
    single bolus
    Duration
    acute
    n
    not extracted
    Design
    Physiological study, sexes compared
    Source quote
    serum LH and FSH were elevated after i.v. bolus kisspeptin-10, at doses as low as 0.3 and 1.0 nmol/kg, respectively

    Finding. Serum FSH was elevated after iv bolus at doses as low as 1.0 nmol/kg.

  • Healthy follicular-phase women, intravenous bolus (Jayasena 2011)

    10 (maximal dose tested) nmol/kg3

    Route
    intravenous bolus
    Frequency
    single bolus
    Duration
    acute
    n
    n = 4-5 per group
    Design
    Physiological study
    Source quote
    In healthy women during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle, no alterations in serum gonadotropins were observed after i.v. bolus, s.c. bolus, or i.v. infusion of kisspeptin-10 at maximal doses of 10 nmol/kg, 32 nmol/kg, and 720 pmol/kg/min, respectively.

    Finding. No change in serum gonadotropins.

  • Healthy follicular-phase women, SUBCUTANEOUS bolus (Jayasena 2011)

    32 (maximal dose tested) nmol/kg3

    Route
    subcutaneous bolus
    Frequency
    single bolus
    Duration
    acute
    n
    n = 4-5 per group
    Design
    Physiological study
    Source quote
    In healthy women during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle, no alterations in serum gonadotropins were observed after i.v. bolus, s.c. bolus, or i.v. infusion of kisspeptin-10 at maximal doses of 10 nmol/kg, 32 nmol/kg, and 720 pmol/kg/min, respectively.

    Finding. No change in serum gonadotropins. This is the only subcutaneous bolus in the record, and it was inert.

  • Healthy follicular-phase women, intravenous infusion (Jayasena 2011)

    720 (maximal dose tested) pmol/kg/min3

    Route
    intravenous infusion
    Frequency
    continuous
    Duration
    not extracted
    n
    n = 4-5 per group
    Design
    Physiological study
    Source quote
    In healthy women during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle, no alterations in serum gonadotropins were observed after i.v. bolus, s.c. bolus, or i.v. infusion of kisspeptin-10 at maximal doses of 10 nmol/kg, 32 nmol/kg, and 720 pmol/kg/min, respectively.

    Finding. No change in serum gonadotropins.

  • Healthy preovulatory-phase women, intravenous bolus (Jayasena 2011)

    10 nmol/kg3

    Route
    intravenous bolus
    Frequency
    single bolus
    Duration
    acute
    n
    n = 4-5 per group
    Design
    Physiological study
    Source quote
    In women during the preovulatory phase, serum LH and FSH were elevated after i.v. bolus kisspeptin-10 (10 nmol/kg).

    Finding. Serum LH and FSH were elevated, so response in women depends on menstrual phase.

  • Healthy men, kisspeptin-10 vs kisspeptin-54 vs GnRH (Jayasena 2015, Imperial)

    0.1, 0.3 and 1.0 nmol/kg/h4

    Route
    intravenous infusion
    Frequency
    continuous during each study day
    Duration
    3 h per study day, visits at least a week apart
    n
    n = 5 per dosing group
    Design
    Single-blinded, placebo-controlled physiological study
    Source quote
    Healthy men were administered vehicle, kisspeptin-10, kisspeptin-54 and GnRH intravenously for 3 h on different study days. Each hormone was administered at 0.1, 0.3 and 1.0 nmol/kg/h doses (n = 5 subjects per group).

    Finding. Kisspeptin-10 and -54 gave similar gonadotropin secretion; GnRH about 3-fold higher LH/FSH than kisspeptin-10.

  • Healthy men, single intravenous bolus and GnRH pulse generator (Chan 2011, Massachusetts General Hospital)

    not extracted from abstract not extracted from abstract5

    Route
    intravenous bolus
    Frequency
    single bolus
    Duration
    GnRH release lasting approximately 17 min
    n
    13 healthy men
    Design
    Physiological study, kisspeptin-10 given as the C-terminal decapeptide (amino acids 112-121)
    Source quote
    a single i.v. bolus of kisspeptin triggered sustained GnRH release lasting approximately 17 min. Furthermore, kisspeptin reset the GnRH pulse generator, as it not only induced an immediate LH pulse but also delayed the next endogenous pulse by an interval approximating the normal interpulse interval.

    Finding. Immediate LH pulse regardless of the timing of the previous endogenous pulse, and the next endogenous pulse was delayed. A single bolus drives only about 17 min of GnRH release, so one injection has a short pharmacodynamic window.

  • Healthy men, acute subcutaneous dose-response (Yeung 2026 study 1, Imperial)

    1.25 to 10.0 nmol/kg/h1

    Route
    subcutaneous infusion (portable pump)
    Frequency
    single 8 h infusion per visit
    Duration
    8 h
    n
    study 1: n = 7 (15 men across all studies; 12 served as controls)
    Design
    Randomized, single-blinded, placebo-controlled; vehicle-controlled dose-response
    Source quote
    Luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and testosterone were assessed during an acute 8 h dose-response subcutaneous kisspeptin-10 infusions (1.25-10.0 nmol/kg/h).

    Finding. Acute subcutaneous infusions dose-dependently increased LH, FSH and testosterone versus vehicle (P < .0001).

  • Healthy men, continuous subcutaneous infusion for 5 days (Yeung 2026 study 2)

    180 nmol/h1

    Route
    subcutaneous infusion (portable pump)
    Frequency
    continuous
    Duration
    5 days
    n
    study 2: n = 4
    Design
    Randomized, single-blinded, placebo-controlled
    Source quote
    Although testosterone concentrations remained elevated after 5 days of continuous kisspeptin-10, gonadotropin concentrations were similar to vehicle.

    Finding. Testosterone stayed elevated but gonadotropin concentrations were similar to vehicle after 5 days of continuous infusion.

  • Healthy men, intermittent daily subcutaneous infusion for 12 days (Yeung 2026 study 3)

    150 nmol/h1

    Route
    subcutaneous infusion (portable pump, soft cannula)
    Frequency
    once daily, 8 h on / 16 h off
    Duration
    12 days
    n
    study 3: n = 7
    Design
    Randomized, single-blinded, placebo-controlled
    Source quote
    Daily 8 h subcutaneous infusions over 12 days sustained increases in gonadotropins (mean LH increase: vehicle -0.16 ± 0.19; day 1: +1.68 ± 0.25; day 12: +1.14 ± 0.33, P = .003 vs vehicle).

    Finding. Gonadotropin increases sustained over 12 days (mean LH increase day 1 +1.68, day 12 +1.14 vs vehicle -0.16); the receptor still responded to a single intravenous 1 nmol/kg bolus afterward.

Clinical practice

Clinical practice

No peer-reviewed review, pharmacy protocol, professional education piece or textbook gives clinical-practice kisspeptin-10 dosing, so no practice range is published. The online claims in this section are not dosing recommendations. They are per-dose figures well below the roughly 1.6 to 5.6 mg/day pump regimens that sustained an effect, and a 2.9 mg single subcutaneous bolus (32 nmol/kg at 70 kg) produced no gonadotropin change in follicular-phase women. A single intravenous bolus acts for about 17 minutes. The roughly 91 mcg probe bolus in Yeung 2026 was a receptor-function test. It resembles the community numbers only in magnitude. Do not combine one source's dose with another source's frequency. Every cited study enrolled healthy volunteers. None enrolled androgen-suppressed or hypogonadal men, so online post-cycle-therapy framing is unsupported. The formulary item is a 10 mg vial, so mcg-scale doses are 0.5 to 2% of the vial, and no dilution step is defined. At 10 mg/mL a 100 mcg dose is 0.01 mL (1 unit on a U-100 syringe), and a one-unit misread is a 50 to 100% error. Do not use this 10 mg presentation at the mcg scale without a defined dilution and a stated volume per dose.

Safety

Serious warnings

  • Response falls with higher or continuous exposure. A 3 μg/kg IV bolus gave a smaller LH response than 1 μg/kg. After 5 days of continuous subcutaneous infusion, gonadotropins were similar to vehicle. Only an intermittent schedule (8 h on, 16 h off) sustained an effect, and even then the mean LH rise fell from day 1 to day 12. Do not escalate the dose for apparent non-response, because the published data show a smaller response at higher or continuous exposure. The 2026 trial aimed 'To develop a protocol for chronic kisspeptin administration that persistently stimulates gonadotropin secretion.'1
  • There is no boxed warning because there is no approved product. FDA places kisspeptin-10 (503A) in Category 2 and states compounded drugs containing it 'may pose risk for immunogenicity for certain routes of administration' and that FDA has 'no, or only limited, safety-related information for the proposed routes of administration'.6
  • FDA also notes kisspeptin-10 'may have complexities with regard to peptide-related impurities and API characterization'.6
  • Women: gonadotropin response is menstrual-phase dependent. 'Kisspeptin-10 stimulates gonadotropin release in men as well as women during the preovulatory phase of menstrual cycle but fails to stimulate gonadotropin release in women during the follicular phase.' A preovulatory LH and FSH rise is the physiological ovulation trigger, so reproductive consequences in a cycling woman are possible and phase-dependent (inferred from mechanism). No pregnancy or lactation data exist for this molecule.3
  • Unit-mix hazard: the literature uses μg/kg, nmol/kg, nmol/kg/h, pmol/kg/min and flat nmol/h. 1 nmol = 1.3024 mcg (MW 1302.4 g/mol). Misreading nmol as mcg under-doses by about 7.7x to 8.7x, and misreading 720 pmol/kg/min as nmol/kg is a 1,000-fold error. Convert using the mass equivalents listed with each study.5

Contraindications

  • No contraindications are established. There is no approved product and no patient-population trial, and every cited study enrolled healthy volunteers only. The documented pharmacodynamic effect is a rise in LH, FSH and testosterone, so the clinic's usual cautions for raising those hormones apply, including hormone-sensitive malignancy and reproductive-age or pregnant patients. These cautions are inferred from mechanism, not from a safety source.2

Adverse effects

  • Loss of response with continuous exposure: after 5 days of continuous subcutaneous kisspeptin-10 'gonadotropin concentrations were similar to vehicle'; after 12 days of 8 h/day infusion the LH rise fell from +1.68 (day 1) to +1.14 (day 12) though still above vehicle.1
  • Reduced response at 3 μg/kg versus 1 μg/kg in men (IV bolus): 'Administration of 3 μg/kg elicited a reduced response vs. 1 μg/kg (P < 0.05).'2
  • No adverse-event data were identified in the cited sources. Total human exposure across all cited studies is a few dozen healthy volunteers, and the 2026 paper reported no adverse-event table in the available text. No conclusion about serious adverse events can be drawn either way.1

Monitoring

  • LH, FSH and total testosterone were the measured endpoints in every cited human study and are the parameters to monitor: baseline and on-treatment values timed to the schedule used, a deliberate re-check for loss of gonadotropin response given the tachyphylaxis finding, plus whatever the clinic already requires for a patient whose testosterone is being raised. Testosterone rose from 16.6 to 24.0 nmol/L over a 22.5 h infusion in healthy men (George 2011).2
  • Infusion use only: in the 2026 study participants were instructed on pump-site inspection, 'monitoring for signs of infection or leakage throughout the study protocol'.1

Interactions

  • No interaction study exists. By mechanism (inferred, not studied), agents acting on the same axis would change the response: exogenous androgens and other axis-suppressing hormones, GnRH agonists and antagonists, gonadotropins, and SERMs such as clomiphene or enclomiphene.2

Handling

Reconstitution

No reconstitution instruction is established. The formulary vial is 10 mg and published doses are in the mcg to low-mg range, so no dose can be measured without a defined dilution and volume per dose.

Storage before mixing

Not established. Obtain storage conditions from the partner pharmacy's certificate of analysis.

Storage after mixing

Not established. In-use stability and beyond-use date are unknown.

Evidence

Human evidence is limited to small physiology studies (n = 4 to 13 per arm) in healthy volunteers, mostly intravenous bolus or infusion, plus one 2026 subcutaneous infusion study in men (12 days). There is no therapeutic efficacy trial, no approved product, no trial in a patient population, and no validated clinic dose. The published regimens that sustained a hormone effect were pump-delivered (roughly 1.6 to 5.6 mg/day for a 70 kg man). A subcutaneous bolus in follicular-phase women (up to 32 nmol/kg) produced no gonadotropin change. Fixed-dose injection figures online come from vendor and community pages, not trials, and are not dosing guidance.

Mechanism

Kisspeptins stimulate hypothalamic GnRH release and thereby LH and FSH secretion. Kisspeptin-10 is the shortest sequence with full intrinsic bioactivity. In men, LH and testosterone rise after intravenous administration or continuous subcutaneous pump infusion. No human study has given kisspeptin-10 as a fixed subcutaneous injection to men. The only subcutaneous bolus in the published studies was given to follicular-phase women and produced no gonadotropin change. A single intravenous bolus drives GnRH release for only about 17 minutes (Chan 2011). Sustained or higher exposure blunts the gonadotropin response (desensitization).1235

Availability

Amounts offered

  • 10 mg

Custom strengths on request.

Blends that include Kisspeptin-10

References

According to PubMed

  1. 1Chronic subcutaneous kisspeptin-10 stimulates gonadotropin secretion for 12 days in healthy men.Eur J Endocrinol 195(2):206-216 (Yeung AC, Phylactou M, Koysombat K, et al.); published 2026 Aug 3 per PubMed, 2026
  2. 2Kisspeptin-10 is a potent stimulator of LH and increases pulse frequency in men.J Clin Endocrinol Metab 96(8):E1228-36 (George JT, Veldhuis JD, Roseweir AK, et al.), 2011
  3. 3The effects of kisspeptin-10 on reproductive hormone release show sexual dimorphism in humans.J Clin Endocrinol Metab 96(12):E1963-72 (Jayasena CN, Nijher GMK, Comninos AN, et al.), 2011
  4. 4Direct comparison of the effects of intravenous kisspeptin-10, kisspeptin-54 and GnRH on gonadotrophin secretion in healthy men.Hum Reprod 30(8):1934-41 (Jayasena CN, Abbara A, Narayanaswamy S, et al.), 2015
  5. 5Kisspeptin resets the hypothalamic GnRH clock in men.J Clin Endocrinol Metab 96(6):E908-15 (Chan YM, Butler JP, Pinnell NE, et al.); molecular identity from PubChem CID 25240297 (C63H83N17O14, 1302.4 g/mol), 2011
  6. 6Certain Bulk Drug Substances for Use in Compounding that May Present Significant Safety Risks (kisspeptin-10, 503A, Category 2, added September 29, 2023)U.S. FDA, content current as of 04/22/2026, 2026
  7. 7Bulk Drug Substances Used in Compounding Under Section 503A of the FD&C Act (Category 2 definition)U.S. FDA, content current as of 05/14/2026, 2026
  8. 8PCAC votes against four nominated bulk drug substances (includes kisspeptin-10)Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding news item (undated page)
  9. 9Kisspeptin-10: Benefits, Dosage & RisksOutliyr (commercial peptide information site; published 2026-05-23, modified 2026-09-08), 2026
  10. 10Kisspeptin Peptide: Research, Dosage & Effects on Testosterone [2026] | Peptide DossierPeptide Dossier (Gangotri46 Ventures LLC), 2026, 2026

Last reviewed 2026-10-14. 33 figures checked against their sources. How this works