This product is a box of 10 vials.
What Is Kisspeptin ?
Kisspeptin acts to control hormone secretion related to reproduction. Kisspeptin has been shown to influence testosterone levels and sex-related behaviors like drive and motivation. Research also suggests it may help reverse some effects of aging.
Sequence:Â YNWNSFGLRF
Molecular Formula:Â C63H83N17O14
Molecular Weight:Â 1302.4 g/mol
PubChem CID:Â 25240297
Synonyms:Â KISS-1, Protein KISS-1, metastin, Kp-10 peptide
Boosting GnRH
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is made in and released from GnRH neurons in the hypothalamus. It is the first hormone released in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and controls the release of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) from the front part of the pituitary gland. GnRH is the main driver of puberty and controls the maturation of reproductive cells in the genitals. It is used in treatments to control menstruation in certain cases, as a therapy for early puberty, and as a steady infusion in some types of cancer.
Increasing Testosterone
By affecting levels of LH and FSH in the blood, kisspeptin can change testosterone levels. This change, however, seems to differ by sex. In men, kisspeptin raises testosterone levels, while in women it has no clear impact on testosterone. In one study, six men received a form of kisspeptin through an IV. They showed a big increase in blood testosterone levels, nearly three times higher, after just 90 minutes. A different version of kisspeptin has been found to change the pulse frequency of LH in men, suggesting that kisspeptin helps fine-tune the normal pulsing release of sex hormones. A study of healthy men given kisspeptin-10 showed a quick, dose-related rise in blood LH levels and a matching increase in testosterone. Kisspeptin-10 seems to do this by boosting the pulsing release of LH. At high enough doses, kisspeptin-10 causes such fast pulsing that individual pulses blend together, leading to steady LH release. This finding opens possibilities for using kisspeptin and similar compounds in areas from pregnancy to low testosterone and beyond.
Energy Balance
Kisspeptin neurons have long been known to respond to a person's energy status. Both under-eating and extreme over-eating can weaken how kisspeptin neurons stimulate GnRH release. In fact, big shifts in energy balance can cause infertility in both men and women, a process that seems to involve kisspeptin.
It is well known that kisspeptin production and release respond to energy balance. What is becoming clearer, though, is that kisspeptin may also help regulate energy balance itself. This idea came from observing mice genetically changed to lack the kisspeptin receptor (Kiss1r). These mice had more body fat and lower energy use. It turns out the kisspeptin receptor is in fat tissue and brown fat tissue. It should not be surprising that kisspeptin plays a role in energy balance, as energy status and reproductive health have always been closely linked. It seems kisspeptin may be one connection that explains how the brain chemically controls energy-related behavior tied to reproduction.
Cancer Research
Twenty years ago, it was discovered that kisspeptin can suppress the spread of melanoma, a serious skin cancer, by as much as 95%. It seems the peptide does this by slowing cancer cell movement. There is also some question about whether kisspeptin can reduce cell sticking and prevent cancer cells from attaching to other tissues and invading them. Checks of various spreading cancers show that breast, bladder, gut, prostate, pancreatic, ovarian, skin, and thyroid cancers all have changes, usually drops, in kisspeptin levels, confirming the peptide's role in cancer spread.
Interest in kisspeptin for cancer treatment has gone up and down due to the peptide's incredible complexity. Research continues to explore how the peptide can be changed, shortened, recombined, and altered to affect different cancer types. It is not that the peptide does not work, but that kisspeptin has so many effects that sorting out its exact impact on various cancer cells is hard. Dr. Floriana Morgillo urges researchers to tackle kisspeptin's complexities to unlock its huge potential for treating cancer. As she notes, kisspeptin could block spread to multiple organs and greatly reduce disease load, adding years to cancer patients' lives and making current treatments better at causing remission.
An interesting link between kisspeptin, melatonin, and cancer was found in early 2020 through an experiment tying levels of these peptides to daylight exposure. In the test, mice exposed to daylight and darkness had very different melatonin and kisspeptin levels. Those in daylight had high kisspeptin and low melatonin. The reverse was true for those in darkness. To add value, the mice got melanoma cells injected. The daylight mice had high tumor growth rates and size. No check was made for spread. It seems melatonin and kisspeptin both help suppress tumors in ways that affect each other, but the exact link is unknown. This is just one example of the complex ways kisspeptin interacts with the body to change tumor growth.
Memory Enhancement
It seems certain versions of kisspeptin are important in brain areas for memory formation and 3D navigation. Mouse research suggests giving these peptides can reverse learning and navigation problems often seen in alcohol intoxication. This hints that kisspeptin and similar compounds play a role in how neurons store information and may interest researchers in offsetting learning issues in some genetic and long-term diseases. While this research is early, it broadens our view of learning and moves us toward nootropics that can boost function in healthy and damaged brains.
Impact on Mood
Just as reproduction and energy status connect, so do reproduction and emotion. Given kisspeptin's role in reproduction and energy balance, researchers wondered how it might affect emotion and behavior. To test this, they compared kisspeptin to a placebo in 29 healthy heterosexual men. Those given kisspeptin showed stronger activity in limbic brain areas. In particular, they had more reward-seeking behavior, higher drive, and better mood. It appears kisspeptin helps blend sexual and emotional brain processing with reproduction overall. These findings advance our understanding of mood, motivation, and drive not just for sex, but for human behavior in general.
Kidney and Heart
Much focus is on kisspeptin's role in reproduction and hormone control. It may surprise some that kisspeptin is also key in the kidney. Kisspeptin and its receptor appear in several kidney spots and are thought to signal kidney function. Research in mice without the Kiss1 receptor shows the peptide is vital for glomerular development during growth, though whether this is direct or indirect is still unclear.
Though kisspeptin's exact kidney role is not clear, it seems tied to the protein's broader control of blood vessel growth and response to injury. Mouse research in heart disease suggests kisspeptin may play a key role in certain blood vessel areas but not others, controlling narrowing and even heart output in specific cases. Kisspeptin's impact in the kidney and heart seems linked to its effects on blood vessel growth and function. This same feature may explain kisspeptin's role in reducing tumor spread. Understanding kisspeptin's details in blood vessels will help advance it as a treatment.
Curious about Kisspeptin?
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