Neurotensin_Dosage, benefits & legal status
Also known as NT, neurotensin (1-13), NT(1-13)
One of the foundational neuropeptides. Decades of biology, no approved use.
Common vial size is what vendors typically sell, not a recommendation. Enter your own vial in the calculator.
What is Neurotensin?
Plain language first. The technical label stays, but it never stands alone.Overview
This is a hormone your own body makes, not a drug. It was found because an extract from cow brain dropped blood pressure, and it turned out to do a great deal besides: acting on gut muscle, interacting with dopamine circuits, and acting on fat metabolism. It has been infused into people in small physiology studies, and none of that makes giving it to someone useful.
Neurotensin is a 13-residue peptide found in the central nervous system and the gut, cut from a precursor that also yields neuromedin N. Its N-terminal glutamine is cyclized to pyroglutamate. It acts through three named receptors: NTSR1 and NTSR2 are G protein-coupled receptors, while NTSR3 is sortilin, a single-pass sorting receptor rather than a signaling one. NTSR1 is the one with a solved structure, and that structure used the rat receptor as an engineered fusion protein bound to NT(8-13), the C-terminal fragment, rather than the intact 13-residue peptide. SorLA binds it too.
What it's used for
Nothing. It is an endogenous signaling peptide studied in brain and gut biology. There is no approved use and no established human dose.
How does Neurotensin work?
What it does in the body, and where.Neurotensin sits in a group of peptides that act both as gut hormones and as brain transmitters, depending where they are released. The same 13 residues do different jobs in the two places.
- 01One gene, two peptidesThe precursor protein yields neurotensin at residues 151 to 163 and a shorter peptide called neuromedin N further up the chain. Processing the same precursor differently in different tissues is how the body gets more than one signal out of one gene.
- 02A capped front endThe mature peptide's first residue, a glutamine, cyclizes into pyroglutamate. That ring protects the front of the chain from the enzymes that chew peptides from that end, and it is why chemical suppliers write the sequence starting with pGlu.
- 03Receptors, and the dopamine connectionThere are three named receptors. NTSR1 and NTSR2 are G protein-coupled receptors; NTSR3 is sortilin, a single-pass sorting receptor rather than a signaling one, and SorLA binds the peptide as well. NTSR1 is the one with a solved structure. Interest in it has run for decades because neurotensin signaling overlaps with dopamine pathways, and that made it a target in antipsychotic research.
What else is it used for?
Each group carries its own evidence level.Approved means regulators have cleared it for that purpose. Investigational means it is in trials. Early research means it is being studied and is not established.
What is settled
Research only- lab-analysisThe sequence and the identity are not in doubt: 13 residues, pyroglutamate at the front, confirmed by two independent registries that agree residue by residue.
- lab-analysisIt is cut from a precursor that also yields neuromedin N, so a single gene supplies two peptides.
- Lab studyNTSR1 has been solved in structure, a level of mechanistic detail most peptides on this site do not have. The structure used the rat receptor engineered as a fusion protein and bound NT(8-13), the C-terminal six residues, rather than the whole 13-residue peptide.
- ReviewIts natural roles span blood pressure, smooth muscle contraction, gut transit, dopamine crosstalk and fat metabolism.
What is not
none- human-earlyIt has been infused into people, but never as a treatment. Blackburn and colleagues gave it to five healthy subjects for 30 minutes in 1980 at 2.3 pmol per kilogram per minute, and NCT04186026 was registered in 2019 to infuse it with and without GLP-1 in 35 men and measure how much they then ate. No trial has tested it against a disease, and there is no approved use.
- No dataA hormone's natural job is not a reason to take it. Knowing that neurotensin lowers blood pressure does not make injecting it a blood pressure treatment, and nothing has tested whether it would be.
- No dataIt clears from blood very quickly, the practical obstacle that has kept the natural peptide out of development even where the biology looked promising.
Neurotensin's long list of biological effects gets quoted as a list of benefits. They are descriptions of what the hormone does inside a working body, and the one published infusion study in people found none of the cardiovascular effects animals show. No trial has tested it as a treatment for anything. The abbreviation NT is also ambiguous: it is used for neurotensin, for neurotrophin and for nortriptyline among others, so a supplier label reading NT settles nothing. The first residue is written pGlu rather than Gln because the mature peptide's glutamine is cyclized, and the two are not interchangeable.
The published record
Papers and trials about Neurotensin
250 papers tagged human · 180 not reviews or lab · 3 clinical trial publications
17 registered trials · 1 with posted results
Furthest stage reached: Phase 1, status not updated
Counted from Europe PMC indexing, not read by a person; a human tag can land on reviews, commentary or lab papers; clinical trial publications is the narrower count. 471 papers and 17 trials indexed in detail.
At a glance
Four things to know about Neurotensin
Evidence
Category
Brain, mood and sleep
Common vial
Varies
Half-life
About 4 minutes in blood
How much, and do you cycle it?
The range, and whether you take breaks.No established dose, not applicable. Not applicable No range
Nothing is taken, so there is no schedule.
About 4 minutes in bloodHuman study
Measured in people. When a 30-minute infusion was stopped in five healthy subjects, the mean disappearance half-time was 3.8 minutes, plus or minus 0.2. No hours figure is plotted because the value is far below the resolution of the chart. That short survival, together with poor passage into the brain, is the main reason the natural peptide was never developed as a medicine.
Source: https://doi.org/10.1210/jcem-51-6-1257
You can compare this against the whole library to see where it sits.
What does it cost?
Typical dose and cost, in plain numbers.Neurotensin is not injected
It is taken not taken as a treatment. No established dose in people. It clears very quickly from blood, one reason the natural peptide itself has never been a plausible medicine, and any figure offered as a neurotensin dose would be invented.
How do you store it?
Before mixing, and after.Nothing to store: it is not taken as a treatment.
Neurotensin is not used as a medicine or a supplement, so no home storage question arises. Laboratory suppliers ship research material frozen and state their own handling conditions on the certificate that comes with it.
What are the side effects and cautions?
Known cautions and warnings for this compound.Solubility, computed: 46% charged residues, 38% hydrophobic. Water usually sufficient.
A first-pass rule from peptide manufacturers' guidance. It does not account for disulfide bridges, salt form or how the powder was dried, and it predicts what should be easy rather than what will happen in your vial.
Who should avoid it
- Any use as a treatment: no therapeutic dose, no established route, and only short physiology infusions behind it
- Treating the breadth of its natural biology as evidence that taking it does something useful
Stop and get help
- Not applicable. Nothing is taken
Common effects
- Barely characterized. A 30-minute infusion in five healthy people raised pancreatic polypeptide and left pulse, blood pressure, glucose, insulin, glucagon and the pituitary hormones unchanged. Beyond that, the pharmacology of giving it is not described
Where this page says nothing is established, that means nobody has studied it, not that a compound is safe.
Is Neurotensin approved?
And where the numbers on this page come from.No. Neurotensin is not approved for any use, anywhere. It is sold labeled for laboratory research only, and there is no legal route to buy it for human use.
- Approval statusResearch only
- RouteNot taken as a treatment
- Checked24 October 2026
- DoseNo dose has been established in people.
- Vial sizeFrom what vendors typically list; not a recommendation.
- Sources
What has happened recently
No regulatory status anywhere. It is an endogenous human peptide with an FDA substance record, UNII XHB61LG5QS and CAS 39379-15-2, and no approval and no International Nonproprietary Name as a medicine. It has been given to people: Blackburn and colleagues infused it into five healthy subjects for 30 minutes in 1980, and NCT04186026, a University of Copenhagen crossover study registered in 2019, infuses neurotensin alone and with GLP-1 into men with a body mass index of 28 to 40 to measure food intake. That record was last verified in May 2023 and its status is listed as unknown. Neither is a trial of it as a treatment. Compounds built on this peptide's structure are a live research area, and this card covers the natural peptide rather than any of them.
You can compare this against the whole library, or read how to check a seller.
What else is like Neurotensin?
Others in Brain, mood and sleep, side by side.If you're weighing Neurotensin, it's worth reading Semax, Selank, and N-Acetyl Semax Amidate in the same class.
One of the foundational neuropeptides. Decades of biology, no approved use.
- Dose
- No established dose
- How often
- Not applicable
A peptide used for sharper focus, memory, and mental clarity.
- Dose
- 0.2 up to 0.6 mg per day
- How often
- 1-2x daily
A peptide that eases anxiety while keeping you clear-headed.
- Dose
- 0.25 up to 0.5 mg per day
- How often
- 1-2x daily
A longer-lasting version of Semax for focus and memory.
- Dose
- 0.2 up to 0.4 mg per day
- How often
- 1-2x daily
Guides for this compound
- How to Reconstitute a Peptide
Mix peptide powder with bacteriostatic water, step by step.
- How to Read an Insulin Syringe
Read the units, convert to millilitres, and draw the exact dose.
- mcg vs mg: The Peptide Dosing Mistake to Avoid
Your vial says mg and your protocol says mcg. Here is the conversion and how to check it.
- How to Read a Peptide COA
What the purity number does and does not tell you, and how to spot an edited report.
- How to Vet a Peptide Vendor
Independent COAs, HPLC purity, and the red flags that mean walk away.
Sources
- FDA GSRS substance record, neurotensin (UNII XHB61LG5QS)(2026)CAS 39379-15-2, formula C78H121N21O20, molecular weight 1672.93. Gives the sequence as pGlu-Leu-Tyr-Glu-Asn-Lys-Pro-Arg-Arg-Pro-Tyr-Ile-Leu, 13 residues, with pyroglutamate at position 1.
- Blackburn and colleagues, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism(1980)Neurotensin infusion in man. Synthetic neurotensin infused into five healthy subjects at a mean 2.3 pmol/kg/min for 30 minutes, raising plasma neurotensin to 104 plus or minus 10 pmol/liter. Mean disappearance half-time after stopping was 3.8 plus or minus 0.2 minutes, metabolic clearance rate 16 plus or minus 1 mL/kg/min. Pancreatic polypeptide rose by 145 plus or minus 54 pmol/liter. No significant change in pulse or blood pressure, glucose, insulin, glucagon, gastric inhibitory peptide, gastrin, motilin, vasoactive intestinal peptide, or the pituitary hormones. The authors note the contrast with experimental animals. PubMed 7002947.
- ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04186026(2019)University of Copenhagen with Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre. Randomized double-masked crossover basic-science study, 35 participants estimated, men aged 18 to 65 with a body mass index of 28 to 40, started October 1, 2019. Four infusion arms: saline, neurotensin, GLP-1, and neurotensin with GLP-1, each followed by a meal. Primary outcome is food intake at 120 minutes measured by weighing leftovers. Status listed as unknown, last verified May 2023, no results posted.
- UniProtKB entry P30990, the neurotensin and neuromedin N precursor(2026)Annotates neurotensin at residues 151 to 163 of the precursor and neuromedin N at 144 to 148. A positional read of those 13 residues gives QLYENKPRRPYIL, matching the GSRS sequence. Describes neurotensin as a possible endocrine or paracrine regulator of fat metabolism that causes smooth muscle contraction, and names NTSR1 as its receptor alongside the sorting receptors sortilin and SorLA.
Beyond these, 488 records are indexed. Browse the records