# Rovere journal > Plain explanations of peptides, GLP-1 medications, hormones and compounded medication, with the research and regulation behind them. Every article lists its sources. The journal is published by Rovere, a telehealth service that sells some of the treatments discussed here. Articles are general information, not medical advice. Only a licensed clinician can say whether a treatment is right for you. - Compound guide: https://roverehealth.com/journal/compounds.md - Compound guide as data: https://roverehealth.com/journal/compounds.json ## The basics - [What is a peptide?](https://roverehealth.com/journal/what-is-a-peptide.md): A peptide is a short chain of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, and the body makes many. By a 2024 count the FDA had approved about 100 as medicines, but the word alone does not show whether a product is approved, tested in people or even what it contains. ## Compounds - [What are GLP-1 medications like semaglutide and tirzepatide?](https://roverehealth.com/journal/glp-1-medications.md): GLP-1 medications mimic a gut hormone that helps control blood sugar and appetite; after large trials, the FDA approved semaglutide and tirzepatide products for type 2 diabetes, weight management and other uses. Digestive side effects are common and weight tends to return after stopping; compounded versions are not FDA-approved and were not tested in those trials. - [What are growth hormone peptides like sermorelin and ipamorelin?](https://roverehealth.com/journal/growth-hormone-peptides.md): Sermorelin, tesamorelin, CJC-1295, ipamorelin and ibutamoren make the pituitary gland release more of the body’s own growth hormone; AOD-9604 is a growth hormone fragment once tested for weight loss. Only tesamorelin is FDA-approved today, to reduce excess belly fat in adults with HIV and lipodystrophy; the others have no approved use, and their evidence in people is limited or negative. - [What are BPC-157 and TB-500?](https://roverehealth.com/journal/bpc-157-and-tb-500.md): BPC-157 and TB-500 are lab-made peptides promoted for healing injuries: BPC-157 copies part of a protein reported in stomach juice, and TB-500 copies a fragment of thymosin beta-4, which the body makes. Neither is FDA-approved, and research on healing is almost all in animals, with no completed controlled trial for an injury in people. - [What is GHK-Cu, the copper peptide?](https://roverehealth.com/journal/ghk-cu.md): GHK-Cu is a peptide of three amino acids bound to copper, found in human blood and used in skin creams and serums; no drug containing it is FDA-approved. Its few trials in people are small, with mixed results, and none tested injected GHK-Cu on its own, a form the FDA says may provoke immune reactions. - [What are epitalon, MOTS-c, thymosin alpha-1 and SS-31?](https://roverehealth.com/journal/longevity-peptides.md): Epitalon, MOTS-c, thymosin alpha-1 and SS-31 (elamipretide) are unrelated peptides; none has been shown to slow aging in people, and only elamipretide is FDA-approved, for a rare inherited disease. No published study has given MOTS-c to people, epitalon’s human studies are few and small, and two large thymosin alpha-1 trials, in sepsis and pancreatitis, missed their main goals. - [What are semax, selank, KPV and DSIP?](https://roverehealth.com/journal/semax-selank-kpv-and-dsip.md): Semax, selank, KPV and DSIP are short peptides promoted for focus, anxiety, inflammation and sleep; none is FDA-approved, no published study has given KPV to people, and DSIP’s small sleep studies conflicted. Semax and selank are registered in Russia, but FDA staff found too little evidence for any semax use they reviewed, and selank’s anxiety trials used no placebo. - [What are PT-141 (bremelanotide) and melanotan II?](https://roverehealth.com/journal/pt-141-and-melanotan-ii.md): Bremelanotide (PT-141) is FDA-approved only as an injection for one form of low sexual desire in premenopausal women; the FDA called the improvements in its trials modest, and nausea was common. Melanotan II, a closely related peptide sold online for tanning, is not FDA-approved, has no large trials, and case reports describe melanoma and other serious harms in users. - [What is NAD+, and what are NMN and NR?](https://roverehealth.com/journal/nad-plus.md): NAD+ is a coenzyme that every cell uses to turn food into energy, and NMN and NR are related molecules the body converts into it. No trial has shown that any of them slows aging in people, a 2026 trial linked NR to worse Parkinson symptoms than placebo, and NAD+ is not FDA-approved for any use. - [What is glutathione?](https://roverehealth.com/journal/glutathione.md): Glutathione is a three-amino-acid peptide that cells make to neutralize oxidants, sold as a supplement and given by drip, injection or inhalation; it is not FDA-approved. Its largest trials found it did not prevent kidney injury from X-ray dye, skin-lightening trials are small, and in 2026 contaminated compounded injections were linked to illness in at least four states. ## Hormones - [What is testosterone therapy for men?](https://roverehealth.com/journal/testosterone-therapy.md): In men, the FDA approves testosterone therapy only when low testosterone comes with a medical condition, such as failing testicles or a pituitary problem. In the TRAVERSE trial, heart attacks and strokes were no more common than on placebo, but irregular heartbeat, lung clots and fractures were; labels warn testosterone can reduce fertility, possibly permanently. - [What are hCG, enclomiphene and the other drugs used with or instead of testosterone?](https://roverehealth.com/journal/drugs-used-with-testosterone.md): hCG, enclomiphene, clomiphene, gonadorelin and anastrozole are prescribed to men who want to keep making their own testosterone or sperm, with testosterone or instead of it. Only hCG is FDA-approved and marketed for a condition in men, and no randomized trial has tested whether any of them preserves fertility in men taking testosterone. - [What is menopause hormone therapy (HRT)?](https://roverehealth.com/journal/menopause-hormone-therapy.md): Menopause hormone therapy is estrogen, usually with a progesterone-like hormone if a woman has a uterus and takes whole-body estrogen; FDA-approved products are for hot flashes, vaginal symptoms and preventing bone loss. Large trials found small but serious risks, including blood clots, stroke and, with the added hormone, breast cancer; compounded “bioidentical” versions are not FDA-approved and lack comparable trials. ## The rules - [What is a compounded medication, and is it FDA-approved?](https://roverehealth.com/journal/what-is-a-compounded-medication.md): A compounded medication is a drug a pharmacist or physician mixes or alters to suit one patient, such as leaving out a dye the patient is allergic to. It is not FDA-approved: the agency does not review its safety, effectiveness or quality before sale, and advises using one only when an approved drug can’t meet a patient’s needs. - [Which peptides can a pharmacy compound?](https://roverehealth.com/journal/which-peptides-can-be-compounded.md): A pharmacy may compound with a raw peptide only if it meets an official quality standard, is in an FDA-approved drug, or is on an FDA list that names no peptide. Peptides that pass none of these, such as BPC-157, can rely at most on nonbinding FDA or HHS policies of not taking action, which are not approvals. ## Safety - [What does “research use only” mean on a peptide?](https://roverehealth.com/journal/research-use-only-peptides.md): The label is a seller’s statement that a product is for laboratory research, not people: such a product has had no FDA review and is sold without a prescription. The FDA treats research-labeled peptides as unapproved drugs when they are sold for human use, and small lab studies of peptides bought online found wrong amounts and impurities. - [What to check when a compounded injection arrives](https://roverehealth.com/journal/checking-a-compounded-injection.md): Check that the package is intact and cold if required, that the label names the pharmacy, patient, drug, strength and a use-by date, and that you know how to measure the dose. Compounded drugs are not FDA-approved, and these checks cannot show whether one is sterile or as strong as its label says. - [How to check a pharmacy or clinician license](https://roverehealth.com/journal/how-to-check-a-pharmacy-or-clinician-license.md): Check a pharmacy with the board of pharmacy in your state and in its home state, as the FDA advises, and a prescriber with your state’s board for their profession. A license is permission to practice, not FDA approval: compounded drugs are not FDA-approved, and the FDA does not approve or license any pharmacy. ## Reading the research - [How to read a peptide study](https://roverehealth.com/journal/how-to-read-a-peptide-study.md): To judge a peptide study, check whether it tested people, how many and for how long, whether it had a comparison group, what it measured and who paid for it. Most treatments tested in animals do not reach approval: a 2024 review of 367 found that 14 had.