Kisspeptin-10

Where it comes from

Made in

The shared tail of the longer kisspeptins; unlike the 54, 14 and 13 it has not been isolated from tissue, and the peptide used in people is synthetic

Sent out by

With kisspeptin-54

Acts on

• GnRH neurons
• Pituitary gonadotrophs, weakly

What it does

• Releases GnRH and so LH within minutes of an infusion starting
• The smallest fully active piece: the amidated RF-amide end is what the receptor reads ¹
• Cleared in minutes, so it is infused rather than given as a single shot

In medicine

• Infused in research to probe the reproductive axis in delayed puberty, hypothalamic amenorrhoea and in men with type 2 diabetes and low testosterone
• In 16 children with delayed puberty, every child whose LH rose by 0.8 mIU/ml or more went through puberty, and every flat responder reached 18 without it ²

Beyond the body’s own use

• Put side by side with kisspeptin-54 and GnRH in healthy men, the two kisspeptins did much the same and GnRH was the stronger stimulus, so the short form is used where convenience matters ³
• Longer-acting analogues were built from its active end. Steady exposure shuts the axis down instead of switching it on: TAK-448 drove testosterone into the castration range in healthy men and in men with prostate cancer ⁴
• MVT-602, from the same work, is still being tested as an ovulation trigger. Neither analogue is approved, and kisspeptin-10 itself is a research tool