Trinity compound research profile
Adipotide
Adipotide is a lab-engineered peptide (a chain of amino acid building blocks) designed like a guided missile. One part of it is a "homing" sequence that...
Research overview
Adipotide is a lab-engineered peptide (a chain of amino acid building blocks) designed like a guided missile. One part of it is a "homing" sequence that seeks out blood vessels feeding fat tissue, and the other part is a "warhead" sequence that destroys cells once it arrives. It was built by combining these two pieces on purpose, rather than being derived from anything natural in the body (Barnhart et al. 2011; Kolonin et al. 2004).
Mechanism under study
Instead of directly burning fat, Adipotide works by cutting off fat tissue's blood supply. The "homing" part latches onto a protein found specifically on blood vessels that feed white fat tissue. Once it locks on, the "warhead" part destroys the cell from the inside by damaging its energy-making machinery (mitochondria). Without blood flow, the fat tissue shrinks and dies off — this is a much more aggressive approach than typical fat-loss peptides.
Human evidence summary
Only one human study was ever registered — a small early-stage (phase 1) trial in men with advanced prostate cancer who were also obese, run at MD Anderson Cancer Center. That trial was listed as terminated (stopped) and no results about whether it worked or was safe in humans were ever published (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01262664).
Preclinical evidence summary
This is where almost all the real evidence comes from. In obese mice, the targeted approach wiped out white fat tissue and reversed obesity and metabolic problems (Kolonin et al. 2004). In obese monkeys given daily injections for 28 days, they lost around 7-15% of body weight, lost significant total body fat, and their bodies got noticeably better at handling insulin (a hormone that manages blood sugar) (Barnhart et al. 2011).
Source material
Use the linked publications and records to evaluate study design, population, limitations, and relevance.