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Clearly they have effects. Heck insulin is a peptide. And pretty sure it has a benefit for those with diabetes. Dismissing peptides outright is just as silly as

Clearly they have effects. Heck insulin is a peptide. And pretty sure it has a benefit for those with diabetes. Dismissing peptides outright is just as silly as thinking peptides are the solution to everything

Legend2440 2mo ago
You also wouldn't want to randomly inject yourself with insulin outside of medical supervision, because it can kill you pretty quick. Injecting poorly-studied grey market peptides seems like a bad idea.
- victorbjorklund 2mo ago
  For sure.
timcobb 2mo ago
How is insulin a peptide? Insulin is a giant folded protein
- Ekaros 2mo ago
  Seems like it is very much on the edge of categories thus fits both. And it really is not a giant as proteins go and instead is on smaller end.
- andsoitis 2mo ago
  Insulin is a peptide hormone. It is a small protein made of 51 amino acids in two chains linked by disulfide bonds.
- victorbjorklund 2mo ago
  Probably better people to explain it. First sentence on wiki ” Insulin (/ˈɪn.sjʊ.lɪn/ ⓘ;[5][6] from Latin insula 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the insulin (INS) gene.”
- twic 2mo ago
  The terminology is all a bit loose. Proteins are peptides, but we don't usually call them that. But when a hormone is a protein, rather than a small molecule, then we call it a "peptide hormone". I suppose because we're making a chemical point, that the hormone is in the family of peptides rather than steroids or eicosanoids or whatever? As you say, insulin is a fully fledged protein, albeit a small one, and i wouldn't call it a peptide myself. But then, insulin is 51 residues, whereas tirzepatide (Mounjaro) is 39; is that such a big difference? FWIW i think a lot of other "peptides" are even smaller, eg CJC-1295 is about 30 residues.
  - jijji 2mo ago
    peptides (2-50 amino acids) are smaller than proteins (50+ amino acids)... it's impossible to call a complex protein a peptide, it fails to meet the definition.
    - Urahandystar 2mo ago
      Is that an standard classification? It so simple I can't believe this is the first time I'm hearing it.
estearum 2mo ago
"peptide" is just a category of chemical. Some of them do good things, some do bad things, some do nothing at all. Anyone talking about "taking peptides" as a meaningful sentence is absolutely dismissible in the same way someone talking about "taking chemicals" is dismissible.
- victorbjorklund 2mo ago
  Yup
- sebastiennight 2mo ago
  If there were suddenly thousands of websites advertising "taking chemicals" as cure-all solutions, and a two-year fad where thousands of accounts advertised "chemicals" on social media, and vernacular use of "taking chemicals" meant "self-inject unregulated substances from unknown foreign manufacturers", then do you see how it would make no sense to make this pedantic point to dismiss any concern over the new "taking chemicals" craze?
  - estearum 2mo ago
    Maybe I wasn't clear, when I say people should be dismissed for saying "taking chemicals," I mean that they don't get to turn the conversation into a battle of anecdata to try to make their arguments. For the vast majority of these chemicals, there's no evidence they do anything beneficial. Until there is, you're an idiot for taking them and our regulators are idiots for letting them be marketed to you as if there are benefits. The entire conversation is goofy because once there's solid enough evidence of safety and efficacy, we just call it a "drug" like any other drug, but somehow a lot of the voluntary lab rats in this craze trust a gas station kiosk more than a billion dollar RCT. TLDR I agree with you
jijji 2mo ago
peptides seemed to have popped up about 10 years ago.... now we've got probably over 100 common peptides that are used for various things, here is a sample: 1) PT-141 is a peptide that releases sex hormone into the blood and literally makes you horny, and its primary use is for premenopausal women that have low sex drive. 2) PNC-27 is a peptide that supposedly attaches to the cell membrane of tumor cells and performs cell lysis (death) of the tumor cell, and it's supposedly affects many different kinds of tumor cells: breast, pancreatic, lung, colon, ovarian, cervical, and leukemia 3) Epithalon is a peptide that is noted for extending telomers on chromosomes, leading to longevity benefits. 4) MOTS-c is it peptide that in animal studies is shown to boost physical endurance and mimic molecular changes associated with training/exercise.
- robocat 2mo ago
  > Epithalon > extending telomers Telomeres are part of your anti-cancer mechanisms (they stop cell reproduction after say 60 DNA self-copies to help fight unbounded cancerous growth). If chasing 'benefits', you'd want to be careful before fucking with that mechanism.
- estearum 2mo ago
  If creating working drugs was as simple as "supposed" MoAs or animal study results, we'd all be cured of everything.

Legend2440 2mo ago

You also wouldn't want to randomly inject yourself with insulin outside of medical supervision, because it can kill you pretty quick. Injecting poorly-studied grey market peptides seems like a bad idea.

victorbjorklund 2mo ago
For sure.

timcobb 2mo ago

How is insulin a peptide? Insulin is a giant folded protein

Ekaros 2mo ago
Seems like it is very much on the edge of categories thus fits both. And it really is not a giant as proteins go and instead is on smaller end.
andsoitis 2mo ago
Insulin is a peptide hormone. It is a small protein made of 51 amino acids in two chains linked by disulfide bonds.
victorbjorklund 2mo ago
Probably better people to explain it. First sentence on wiki ” Insulin (/ˈɪn.sjʊ.lɪn/ ⓘ;[5][6] from Latin insula 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the insulin (INS) gene.”
twic 2mo ago
The terminology is all a bit loose. Proteins are peptides, but we don't usually call them that. But when a hormone is a protein, rather than a small molecule, then we call it a "peptide hormone". I suppose because we're making a chemical point, that the hormone is in the family of peptides rather than steroids or eicosanoids or whatever? As you say, insulin is a fully fledged protein, albeit a small one, and i wouldn't call it a peptide myself. But then, insulin is 51 residues, whereas tirzepatide (Mounjaro) is 39; is that such a big difference? FWIW i think a lot of other "peptides" are even smaller, eg CJC-1295 is about 30 residues.
- jijji 2mo ago
  peptides (2-50 amino acids) are smaller than proteins (50+ amino acids)... it's impossible to call a complex protein a peptide, it fails to meet the definition.
  - Urahandystar 2mo ago
    Is that an standard classification? It so simple I can't believe this is the first time I'm hearing it.

estearum 2mo ago

"peptide" is just a category of chemical. Some of them do good things, some do bad things, some do nothing at all. Anyone talking about "taking peptides" as a meaningful sentence is absolutely dismissible in the same way someone talking about "taking chemicals" is dismissible.

victorbjorklund 2mo ago
Yup
sebastiennight 2mo ago
If there were suddenly thousands of websites advertising "taking chemicals" as cure-all solutions, and a two-year fad where thousands of accounts advertised "chemicals" on social media, and vernacular use of "taking chemicals" meant "self-inject unregulated substances from unknown foreign manufacturers", then do you see how it would make no sense to make this pedantic point to dismiss any concern over the new "taking chemicals" craze?
- estearum 2mo ago
  Maybe I wasn't clear, when I say people should be dismissed for saying "taking chemicals," I mean that they don't get to turn the conversation into a battle of anecdata to try to make their arguments. For the vast majority of these chemicals, there's no evidence they do anything beneficial. Until there is, you're an idiot for taking them and our regulators are idiots for letting them be marketed to you as if there are benefits. The entire conversation is goofy because once there's solid enough evidence of safety and efficacy, we just call it a "drug" like any other drug, but somehow a lot of the voluntary lab rats in this craze trust a gas station kiosk more than a billion dollar RCT. TLDR I agree with you

jijji 2mo ago

peptides seemed to have popped up about 10 years ago.... now we've got probably over 100 common peptides that are used for various things, here is a sample: 1) PT-141 is a peptide that releases sex hormone into the blood and literally makes you horny, and its primary use is for premenopausal women that have low sex drive. 2) PNC-27 is a peptide that supposedly attaches to the cell membrane of tumor cells and performs cell lysis (death) of the tumor cell, and it's supposedly affects many different kinds of tumor cells: breast, pancreatic, lung, colon, ovarian, cervical, and leukemia 3) Epithalon is a peptide that is noted for extending telomers on chromosomes, leading to longevity benefits. 4) MOTS-c is it peptide that in animal studies is shown to boost physical endurance and mimic molecular changes associated with training/exercise.

robocat 2mo ago
> Epithalon > extending telomers Telomeres are part of your anti-cancer mechanisms (they stop cell reproduction after say 60 DNA self-copies to help fight unbounded cancerous growth). If chasing 'benefits', you'd want to be careful before fucking with that mechanism.
estearum 2mo ago
If creating working drugs was as simple as "supposed" MoAs or animal study results, we'd all be cured of everything.