AOD-9604 (hGH Fragment 177-191)
AOD-9604 is a modified C-terminal fragment of human growth hormone (residues 177-191 with an added tyrosine) studied as the hormone's lipolytic domain, raising fat oxidation and lipolysis in obese rodent models without binding the growth hormone receptor, and the research catalog lists it at https://onesourcepeptides.com/product/aod-9604.
The defining finding is lipolysis without classic growth hormone receptor signaling. Heffernan et al., International Journal of Obesity, 2001 (PMID 11673763) gave obese ob/ob and lean mice hGH, AOD9604 or saline for 14 days and found both hGH and AOD9604 significantly reduced body weight gain in obese mice, with higher in vivo fat oxidation and plasma glycerol. Unlike hGH, AOD9604 did not induce hyperglycaemia or reduce insulin secretion, did not compete for the hGH receptor, and did not drive cell proliferation in hGH receptor-transfected cells.
The mechanism work went further. Heffernan et al., Endocrinology, 2001 (PMID 11713213) showed that 14 days of AOD9604 reduced body weight and body fat in obese mice and restored repressed beta-3 adrenergic receptor RNA to lean-mouse levels. In beta-3 receptor knock-out mice the chronic weight effect disappeared, yet acute AOD9604 still raised energy expenditure and fat oxidation, pointing to a lipolytic action not mediated directly through that receptor.
Rat and joint models point the same direction. Ng et al., Hormone Research, 2000 (PMID 11146367) reported that 19 days of AOD9604 in obese Zucker rats cut body weight gain by more than half versus controls, increased adipose lipolytic activity, and, unlike chronic intact hGH, showed no adverse effect on insulin sensitivity by euglycemic clamp. Kwon and Park, Annals of Clinical and Laboratory Science, 2015 (PMID 26275694) found intra-articular AOD9604 enhanced cartilage regeneration in a collagenase-induced knee osteoarthritis rabbit model, with the AOD9604 plus hyaluronic acid group scoring best and recovering from lameness fastest.
Lot identity and purity belong on the certificate of analysis for the vial in hand. See Are research peptides third-party tested?. AOD-9604 on the catalog is laboratory research supply only. This note summarizes published cell and animal research and is not dosing, reconstitution, or human-use guidance.