METABOLIC & WEIGHT RESEARCH / REFS

References

Every source cited across MOTS-c, tesamorelin, tirzepatide, and the comparison page, gathered in one place.

References

The list below aggregates the literature cited across all three compounds on this desk — MOTS-c, tesamorelin, and tirzepatide. Each entry gives authors, title, journal, and year, with a DOI and a PubMed or PubMed Central link where available. A citation is listed once and referenced by its number throughout the site; where a source is a review, meta-analysis, or clinical-reference chapter rather than a primary trial, it is cited as such.

  1. Kumagai H, Kim SJ, Miller B, et al. MOTS-c modulates skeletal muscle function by directly binding and activating CK2. iScience. 2024;27(11):111212.
  2. Bolignano D, Greco M, Presta P, Duni A, et al. The Mitochondrial-Derived Peptide MOTS-c May Refine Mortality and Cardiovascular Risk Prediction in Chronic Hemodialysis Patients: A Multicenter Cohort Study. Blood Purification. 2024;53(10):824-837.
  3. Wan W, Zhang L, Lin Y, Rao X, Wang X, Hua F, Ying J. Mitochondria-derived peptide MOTS-c: effects and mechanisms related to stress, metabolism and aging. Journal of Translational Medicine. 2023;21(1):36.
  4. Reynolds JC, Lai RW, Woodhead JST, Joly JH, Mitchell CJ, Cameron-Smith D, Lu R, Cohen P, Graham NA, Benayoun BA, Merry TL, Lee C. MOTS-c is an exercise-induced mitochondrial-encoded regulator of age-dependent physical decline and muscle homeostasis. Nature Communications. 2021;12(1):470.
  5. Kim KH, Son JM, Benayoun BA, Lee C. The Mitochondrial-Encoded Peptide MOTS-c Translocates to the Nucleus to Regulate Nuclear Gene Expression in Response to Metabolic Stress. Cell Metabolism. 2018;28(3):516-524.e7.
  6. Badran AS, et al. Body composition, hepatic fat, metabolic, and safety outcomes of Tesamorelin, a GHRH analogue, in HIV-associated lipodystrophy: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Obesity Research & Clinical Practice. 2026;20(1):2-12.
  7. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (LiverTox). Tesamorelin - LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury. NCBI Bookshelf (NIH). 2018.
  8. Stanley TL, Feldpausch MN, Oh J, Branch KL, Lee H, Torriani M, Grinspoon SK. Effect of tesamorelin on visceral fat and liver fat in HIV-infected patients with abdominal fat accumulation: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2014;312(4):380-389.
  9. Stanley TL, Chen CY, Branch KL, Makimura H, Grinspoon SK. Effects of a growth hormone-releasing hormone analog on endogenous GH pulsatility and insulin sensitivity in healthy men. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. 2011;96(1):150-158.
  10. Falutz J, Allas S, Mamputu JC, Potvin D, Kotler D, Somero M, Berger D, Brown S, Richmond G, Fessel J, Turner R, Grinspoon S. Long-term safety and effects of tesamorelin, a growth hormone-releasing factor analogue, in HIV patients with abdominal fat accumulation. AIDS. 2008;22(14):1719-1728.
  11. Aronne LJ, et al. Tirzepatide as Compared with Semaglutide for the Treatment of Obesity. N Engl J Med. 2025.
  12. Farzam K, Patel P. Tirzepatide (StatPearls). StatPearls [Internet], NCBI Bookshelf. 2024.
  13. Zeng Q, et al. Safety issues of tirzepatide (pancreatitis and gallbladder or biliary disease) in type 2 diabetes and obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023.
  14. Jastreboff AM, et al. Tirzepatide Once Weekly for the Treatment of Obesity. N Engl J Med. 2022.
  15. Frias JP, et al. Tirzepatide versus Semaglutide Once Weekly in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes. N Engl J Med. 2021.
  16. Willard FS, et al. Tirzepatide is an imbalanced and biased dual GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonist. JCI Insight. 2020.
  17. Coskun T, et al. LY3298176, a novel dual GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonist for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus: From discovery to clinical proof of concept. Mol Metab. 2018.