What Humanin is
Humanin is the first-discovered mitochondrial-derived peptide, MOTS-c's older cousin, encoded within mitochondrial ribosomal RNA and studied for cytoprotective effects in models of neurodegeneration, cardiovascular injury, and metabolic stress. Levels decline with age, which anchors its longevity narrative. Everything about it in humans is observational; interventional data is rodent-only, mostly with the modified HNG analog.
What we do not know
- No trials of administered humanin in humans have been published. The human data is association between endogenous levels and age or disease.
- Circulating levels fall with age, but whether raising them by injection reproduces what higher natural levels correlate with is untested.
- No human pharmacokinetics or dosing basis.
Reconstitution math
Concentration is everything: the same 10 mg vial gives a different draw for every amount of bacteriostatic water you add. The table uses the common 2 mL setup for each vial size, which puts every unit on a U-100 insulin syringe at 50 mcg for the default vial. Dashes mark draws too small to measure or larger than the syringe.
| Vial | BAC water | Concentration | 1 mg | 2 mg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 mg | 2 mL | 5 mg/mL | 20 u | 40 u |
Dosing and protocol
Community protocol: 1 to 2 mg subcutaneously daily or several times weekly; evidence base is preclinical.
Community protocols run 1 to 2 mg subcutaneously daily or a few times weekly, usually inside a mitochondrial stack with MOTS-c, NAD+, or SS-31. On a 10 mg vial with 2 mL of water, 1 mg is a 20-unit draw. Verify whether a vendor vial is native humanin or the HNG analog; they are not interchangeable in the literature.
Pharmacokinetics
No curve is shown, on purpose.
Humanin has no human pharmacokinetic data. Rodent work uses the potent HNG analog at various routes, and community vials may be either molecule; without knowing which, and without human data for either, no curve is defensible.
How it is thought to work
A peptide encoded in mitochondrial DNA, like MOTS-c. It is cytoprotective and anti-apoptotic, binding IGFBP-3 and formyl peptide receptors, and was originally found in neurons surviving in Alzheimer-affected brain tissue.
What the evidence supports
This table grades how well each outcome has been studied in humans, not how well Humanin works. A strong grade means the question was asked properly, and the answer may still have been negative. Nothing here is inherited from a drug class, a close analog, or the parent molecule of a fragment.
| Outcome | Strongest published evidence |
|---|---|
| Endogenous levels decline with age | Human, observational |
| Neuroprotection | Animal only |
| Cytoprotective signaling | Mechanistic only |
| Any outcome from administration in humans | No data |
Storage and handling
Lyophilized vials keep best cold, dark, and dry; refrigeration is the community default and freezing lyophilized powder is common for long holds. After reconstitution, refrigerate at 2 to 8 C, do not freeze the solution, and date the vial. Bacteriostatic water's preservative keeps multi-dose use practical for about 28 days by USP convention, though our 120-day stability study found the preservative itself outlasts that window.
Got a certificate of analysis with your vial? Run it through our COA Reader: it reads the report in plain English, checks purity and mass against the label claim, and links the testing lab’s own verification page. Our guide to reading a COA explains what the numbers do and do not tell you.
Sources
- Hashimoto et al., A rescue factor abolishing neuronal cell death (Humanin), PNAS 2001
- Yen et al., The emerging role of the mitochondrial-derived peptide humanin in stress resistance, J Mol Endocrinol 2018