Adipotide
Adipotide (FTPP; called Prohibitin-TP01 in its human trial) is a lab-designed peptide meant to kill the blood vessels that feed white fat. One part homes to prohibitin, a protein on the vessels of fat tissue; the other part makes those cells die. It caused weight loss in obese mice and monkeys but injured the kidneys in monkeys. Its only human trial was stopped early and no results were published.
Approval status
Not approved anywhere. The only human trial, a first-in-human study at MD Anderson in men with obesity and advanced prostate cancer, enrolled 4 people and was terminated at the investigator's request; no results have been posted.46
What it’s used or studied for
- Animal & lab only
Caused rapid weight loss and a marked drop in white fat in obese monkeys; the monkeys also ate less. Lean monkeys did not lose weight.3
- Animal & lab only
Improved insulin resistance in obese monkeys, and improved glucose tolerance in obese mice within days.35
- Animal & lab only
Reversed diet-induced obesity in mice by destroying blood vessels in white fat.2
Each label shows how strong the evidence is: an approved use, human studies, animal or lab studies only, or a popular claim with no published studies. Being studied is not the same as being proven safe or effective.
Side effects
No human safety results have been published. In monkeys the main toxicity was dose-dependent injury to the kidney tubules, with more urine, sugar and protein in the urine, and mild dehydration at the highest doses; most changes reversed after stopping.34
Sources
- PubChem: Adipotide (CID 163360068)
- Kolonin MG et al. Reversal of obesity by targeted ablation of adipose tissue. Nat Med. 2004
- Barnhart KF et al. A peptidomimetic targeting white fat causes weight loss and improved insulin resistance in obese monkeys. Sci Transl Med. 2011
- ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01262664: First-in-man phase I evaluation of prohibitin targeting peptide 1 in patients with metastatic prostate cancer and obesity
- Kim DH et al. Rapid and weight-independent improvement of glucose tolerance induced by a peptide designed to elicit apoptosis in adipose tissue endothelium. Diabetes. 2012
- WADA 2026 Prohibited List
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