Research library
The research library
Every primary source behind a claim on this site, tier-graded for provenance and tagged for the strength of the evidence it carries.
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Reset allT1·Peer-primary literature
Randomized trials, peer-reviewed primary studies, and meta-analyses — the load-bearing layer of the corpus.
31 sources
- 2026RCTmoderaten=72
Semaglutide and Effort-Based Decision-Making in Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Gill H, Badulescu S, Shah H, +3 · JAMA Psychiatry
Across 72 adults with major depressive disorder and BMI ≥25, 16 weeks of adjunctive oral semaglutide (14 mg) significantly reduced the perceived cost of effort relative to monetary reward on the Effort-Expenditure for Rewards Task — the first RCT to show GLP-1RA modulation of reward-related motivation in clinical depression.
- 2026RCTmoderaten=108
Once-weekly semaglutide versus placebo in patients with alcohol use disorder and comorbid obesity: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
Klausen MK, Justesen SK, Pedersen JN, +3 · The Lancet
Across 108 treatment-seeking adults with alcohol use disorder and comorbid obesity, 26 weeks of once-weekly semaglutide reduced heavy drinking days by −41.1 percentage points from baseline versus −26.4 in placebo — a 13.7-point between-group difference (p=0.0015), the first Lancet-tier RCT confirming a GLP-1RA effect on alcohol consumption.
- 2026RCTmoderaten=204
Liraglutide in mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease: a phase 2b clinical trial
Edison P, Hooper N, Femminella GD, +7 · Nature Medicine
The ELAD Phase 2b in 204 non-diabetic adults with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease missed its primary endpoint of cerebral glucose metabolic rate (p=0.14) — but secondary endpoints reported nearly 50% reduction in brain atrophy and 18% slower ADAS-Exec decline, the secondary-positive signal that handed the question to the larger semaglutide EVOKE Phase 3.
- 2024RCTmoderaten=105
Cagrilintide is not associated with clinically relevant QTc prolongation: A thorough QT study in healthy participants
Gabe MBN, Fuhr R, Sinn A, +5 · Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism
The thorough-QT study that cleared cagrilintide at the 4.5 mg dose for cardiac repolarisation safety — the regulatory-grade ECG study that closes the QT-prolongation question Phase 3 trials cannot answer at their resolution.
- 2024RCTmoderaten=176
ReCLAIM-2: A Randomized Phase II Clinical Trial Evaluating Elamipretide in Age-related Macular Degeneration, Geographic Atrophy Growth, Visual Function, and Ellipsoid Zone Preservation
Ehlers JP, Hu A, Boyer D, +4 · Ophthalmology Science
Across 176 patients with dry age-related macular degeneration and geographic atrophy, ReCLAIM-2 missed both prespecified primary endpoints — low-luminance visual acuity and GA area progression — but produced statistically significant secondary signals on ellipsoid zone preservation (43% reduction in total EZ attenuation, p = 0.0034) that Stealth has cited as proof-of-mechanism for future development.
- 2024RCTmoderaten=413
Dose-response effects on HbA1c and bodyweight reduction of survodutide, a dual glucagon/GLP-1 receptor agonist, compared with placebo and open-label semaglutide in people with type 2 diabetes: a randomised clinical trial
Blüher M, Rosenstock J, Hoefler J, +2 · Diabetologia
Survodutide doses ≥1.8 mg achieved greater body-weight reduction than open-label semaglutide 1.0 mg (-5.3% to -8.7% vs -5.3%) at 16 weeks while matching HbA1c reductions — a short-window signal that motivated the Phase 3 program in obesity and T2D.
- 2024RCTmoderaten=3,533
Effects of semaglutide with and without concomitant SGLT2 inhibitor use in participants with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease in the FLOW trial
Mann JFE, Rossing P, Bakris G, +9 · Nature Medicine
Among the 550 FLOW participants on baseline SGLT2 inhibitors, the primary outcome HR was 1.07 (P=0.755); among the 2,983 not on SGLT2 inhibitors it was 0.73 (P<0.001) — a P for interaction of 0.109 that is consistent with underpowered subgroup analysis rather than negative interaction, but leaves the formal stacking question incomplete.
- 2024RCTmoderaten=156
Trial of Lixisenatide in Early Parkinson's Disease
Meissner WG, Remy P, Giordana C, +7 · New England Journal of Medicine
Lixisenatide-treated patients showed no motor decline at 12 months while placebo-treated patients worsened by 3.04 MDS-UPDRS-III points — a 3.08-point between-group separation (p=0.0068) that is the first positive primary endpoint for a GLP-1 agonist in early Parkinson's disease.
- 2023RCTmoderaten=92
Efficacy and safety of co-administered once-weekly cagrilintide 2·4 mg with once-weekly semaglutide 2·4 mg in type 2 diabetes: a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, active-controlled, phase 2 trial
Frias JP, Deenadayalan S, Erichsen L, +6 · Lancet
The Phase 2 type 2 diabetes trial that established CagriSema's combination signal in a diabetic cohort — 15.6% weight loss and 2.2-percentage-point HbA1c reduction at 32 weeks on CagriSema versus 5.1% / 1.8% on semaglutide alone, in 92 adults on metformin background. The cohort was small but it set the framing under which REDEFINE-2 was designed.
- 2021RCTmoderaten=96
Safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of concomitant administration of multiple doses of cagrilintide with semaglutide 2·4 mg for weight management: a randomised, controlled, phase 1b trial
Enebo LB, Berthelsen KK, Kankam M, +4 · Lancet
The Phase 1b dose-escalation study that established cagrilintide's once-weekly pharmacokinetic profile (half-life 159–195 hours) and produced the first human signal that combination amylin + GLP-1 agonism could exceed semaglutide monotherapy — 17.1% weight loss at week 20 on cagrilintide 2.4 mg plus semaglutide 2.4 mg, all in 96 healthy-overweight adults at a single US site.
- 2021RCTmoderaten=12
A phase 2/3 randomized clinical trial followed by an open-label extension to evaluate the effectiveness of elamipretide in Barth syndrome, a genetic disorder of mitochondrial cardiolipin metabolism
Thompson WR, Hornby B, Manuel R, +4 · Genetics in Medicine
Across 12 subjects with genetically confirmed Barth syndrome, the randomized 12-week crossover period missed both primary endpoints, but the 36-week open-label extension produced a 95.9-metre improvement in six-minute walk distance and meaningful gains in patient-reported and strength endpoints — the foundational efficacy dataset behind the September 2025 FDA approval of Forzinity for Barth syndrome.
- 2018RCTmoderaten=36
Randomized dose-escalation trial of elamipretide in adults with primary mitochondrial myopathy
Karaa A, Haas R, Goldstein A, +3 · Neurology
Across 36 adults with genetically confirmed primary mitochondrial myopathy, the highest-dose elamipretide arm walked 64.5 metres farther on the six-minute walk test at day 5 versus 20.4 metres on placebo — the positive Phase 2 signal that motivated the larger MMPOWER-3 trial that ultimately failed.
- 2017RCTmoderaten=29
Kisspeptin modulates sexual and emotional brain processing in humans
Comninos AN, Wall MB, Demetriou L, +24 · Journal of Clinical Investigation
Kisspeptin-54 enhanced limbic-brain responses to sexual and couple-bonding stimuli and attenuated negative mood in a placebo-controlled crossover fMRI study — the first human evidence linking the hypothalamic reproductive switch to the brain's affective circuitry.
- 2017RCTmoderaten=44
Novel Mitochondria-Targeting Peptide in Heart Failure Treatment: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Elamipretide
Daubert MA, Yow E, Dunn G, +7 · Circulation Heart Failure
A single high-dose elamipretide infusion produced acute reductions in left ventricular end-diastolic (−18 mL) and end-systolic (−14 mL) volume versus placebo in 44 stable heart-failure patients — the early signal that motivated the PROGRESS-HF Phase 2 trial, which then failed to confirm chronic-dosing benefit at 4 weeks.
- 2016RCTmoderaten=208
Cerebrolysin and Recovery After Stroke (CARS): A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind, Multicenter Trial
Muresanu DF, Heiss WD, Hoemberg V, +8 · Stroke
CARS-1 is the Cerebrolysin trial in which the protocol was tightest, the rehabilitation co-intervention was standardized, and the primary endpoint — upper-extremity motor recovery on the Action Research Arm Test at day 90 — favored Cerebrolysin with a Mann-Whitney effect size of 0.71 (95% CI 0.63–0.79, P<0.0001).
- 2015RCTmoderaten=342
Larazotide acetate for persistent symptoms of celiac disease despite a gluten-free diet: a randomized controlled trial
Leffler DA, Kelly CP, Green PHR, +8 · Gastroenterology
Larazotide acetate at 0.5 mg three times daily improved celiac-disease symptom scores versus placebo (ANCOVA p=0.022) in adults with persistent symptoms despite a gluten-free diet — the Phase IIb signal that licensed an attempt at registration that the Phase 3 program failed to confirm in 2022.
- 2015RCTmoderaten=72
Thymosin beta 4 ophthalmic solution for dry eye: a randomized, placebo-controlled, Phase II clinical trial conducted using the controlled adverse environment (CAE) model
Sosne G, Ousler GW · Clinical Ophthalmology
A 72-subject Phase 2 dry-eye RCT of 0.1% thymosin β4 ophthalmic solution: the formal primary endpoints did not separate from placebo, but treated subjects showed a 27% reduction in discomfort during controlled adverse environment exposure and statistically significant improvements in corneal staining — the larger companion to the Sosne 2015 Cornea trial.
- 2015RCTmoderaten=9
Thymosin β4 significantly improves signs and symptoms of severe dry eye in a phase 2 randomized trial
Sosne G, Dunn SP, Kim C · Cornea
In a 9-patient Phase 2 dry eye trial, 0.1% thymosin β4 ophthalmic solution reduced ocular discomfort by 35.1% and corneal fluorescein staining by 59.1% versus vehicle control — small but the cleanest published signal that the cardiac-mechanism literature on thymosin β4 might translate clinically.
- 2014RCTmoderaten=50
Effect of tesamorelin on visceral fat and liver fat in HIV-infected patients with abdominal fat accumulation: a randomized clinical trial
Stanley TL, Feldpausch MN, Oh J, +4 · JAMA
First randomized trial to demonstrate that tesamorelin reduces liver fat — not just visceral fat — in HIV-infected adults with abdominal fat accumulation, opening the door to the NAFLD line of investigation that the Grinspoon group has pursued since.
- 2014RCTmoderaten=114
Prospective, randomized, controlled, proof-of-concept study of the ghrelin mimetic ipamorelin for the management of postoperative ileus in bowel resection patients
Beck DE, Sweeney WB, McCarter MD · International Journal of Colorectal Disease
Median time to first tolerated meal was 25.3 hours with ipamorelin versus 32.6 hours with placebo — a seven-hour edge in the expected direction, but p = 0.15, and the rigorous indication trial that should have made ipamorelin a prescription drug fell short of statistical significance.
- 2013RCTmoderaten=48
ARA 290 improves symptoms in patients with sarcoidosis-associated small nerve fiber loss and increases corneal nerve fiber density
Dahan A, Dunne A, Swartjes M, +9 · Molecular Medicine
Twenty-eight days of daily subcutaneous cibinetide in sarcoidosis patients with documented small-nerve-fiber loss produced a significant increase in corneal small-nerve-fiber density, improved thermal sensitivity, and increased exercise capacity — the trial that anchored the move from a pilot signal to a structurally defensible Phase II readout.
- 2012RCTmoderaten=60
Metabolic Effects of a Growth Hormone-Releasing Factor in Obese Subjects with Reduced Growth Hormone Secretion: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Makimura H, Feldpausch MN, Rope AM, +4 · Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
Twelve months of tesamorelin in non-HIV abdominally obese adults with reduced GH secretion selectively reduced visceral adipose tissue without affecting subcutaneous fat, improved triglycerides and carotid intima-media thickness, and preserved glucose tolerance — the cleanest non-HIV reading of tesamorelin's metabolic effect available.
- 2012RCTmoderaten=22
Safety and efficacy of ARA 290 in sarcoidosis patients with symptoms of small fiber neuropathy: a randomized, double-blind pilot study
Heij L, Niesters M, Swartjes M, +8 · Molecular Medicine
Twelve patients on ARA-290 versus ten on placebo, intravenous 2 mg three times weekly for four weeks — and a statistically significant improvement in the Small Fiber Neuropathy Screening List score versus placebo at week 4. The first human trial of cibinetide in sarcoidosis-associated small-fiber neuropathy.
- 2011RCTmoderaten=123
MK-0677 (ibutamoren mesylate) for the treatment of patients recovering from hip fracture: A multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled phase IIb study
Adunsky A, Chandler J, Heyden N, +5 · Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics
IGF-1 rose, gait speed improved modestly (p=0.011), most functional measures did not differentiate — and the trial was terminated early on a congestive heart failure signal (4 of 62 active-arm versus 1 of 61 placebo-arm patients). The MK-677 sarcopenia-adjacent reading that reproduced the Nass mass-without-function pattern with a safety signal attached.
- 2010RCTmoderaten=40
A randomized, placebo-controlled, single and multiple dose study of intravenous thymosin beta4 in healthy volunteers
Ruff D, Crockford D, Girardi G, +1 · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
The Phase 1 human-safety paper that gated everything downstream: 40 healthy volunteers received IV thymosin β4 at 42, 140, 420, or 1260 mg single doses then daily for 14 days, with no dose-limiting toxicities, no serious adverse events, and a dose-proportional PK profile.
- 2008RCTmoderaten=62
Efficacy and possible mechanisms of action of a new peptide anxiolytic Selank in the therapy of generalized anxiety disorders and neurasthenia
Zozulia AA, Neznamov GG, Siuniakov TS, +11 · Zhurnal Nevrologii i Psikhiatrii imeni S.S. Korsakova
Across 62 patients with GAD or neurasthenia, Selank's anxiolytic effect was reported as comparable to medazepam — the only English-indexed clinical trial that puts Selank head-to-head against a benzodiazepine.
- 1998RCTmoderaten=8
MK-677, an Orally Active Growth Hormone Secretagogue, Reverses Diet-Induced Catabolism
Murphy MG, Plunkett LM, Gertz BJ, +4 · Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
In an 8-volunteer crossover trial, oral MK-677 (25 mg daily) reversed nitrogen wasting induced by 14 days of caloric restriction — the first published human evidence that an orally bioavailable ghrelin-mimetic could produce a clinically meaningful anabolic signal.
- 1998RCTmoderaten=12
Growth hormone status during long-term hexarelin therapy
Rahim A, O'Neill PA, Shalet SM · Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
Sixteen weeks of twice-daily subcutaneous hexarelin in elderly subjects: mean GH AUC fell from 19.1 µg/L/h at baseline to 13.1 at week 1, 12.3 at week 4, and 10.5 at week 16 — a roughly 45% loss of the GH response, reversible after four weeks of washout. The receptor-desensitisation paper that grounds modern hexarelin cycling logic.
- 1997RCTmoderaten=19
Endocrine and metabolic effects of long-term administration of [Nle27]growth hormone-releasing hormone-(1-29)-NH2 in age-advanced men and women
Khorram O, Laughlin GA, Yen SS · Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
Nineteen healthy adults aged 55–71 received nightly subcutaneous [Nle27]GHRH(1-29)-NH2 at 10 µg/kg or placebo for five months. Nocturnal GH and IGF-1 rose, lean-body-mass effects appeared in men, skin thickness rose in women — the load-bearing controlled adult sermorelin-analog trial whose modest scale defines the evidence ceiling for adult GHRH-axis modulation.
- 1997RCTmoderaten=11
Effects of single nightly injections of growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH 1-29) in healthy elderly men
Vittone J, Blackman MR, Busby-Whitehead J, +10 · Metabolism
Eleven healthy older men aged 64–76 received a single nightly subcutaneous GHRH(1-29) dose of 2 mg for six weeks. Nocturnal GH release rose and isolated muscle-strength measures improved, but IGF-1, body weight, DEXA body composition, glucose, insulin, and lipids did not change — the trial that established single-nightly dosing as less effective than multiple-daily regimens.
- 1996RCTmoderaten=33
A randomized controlled trial of thymosin-alpha1 versus interferon alfa treatment in patients with hepatitis B e antigen antibody-- and hepatitis B virus DNA--positive chronic hepatitis B
Andreone P, Cursaro C, Gramenzi A, +9 · Hepatology
In a 33-patient head-to-head comparison, thymosin-α1 produced a similar response rate to interferon alfa in anti-HBe-positive chronic hepatitis B at end-of-treatment and a higher complete response rate at six-month follow-up — the comparator-grade evidence that anchored thymosin-α1's hepatitis B regulatory record.