IGF-1 DES (1-3)

About IGF-1 DES (1-3)

IGF-1 DES is IGF-1 with the first three amino acids (Gly-Pro-Glu) removed from the N-terminus. It occurs naturally — it has been isolated from bovine colostrum, human brain, and porcine uterus — and the truncation has a specific, well-documented consequence: losing the glutamate at position 3 drops its affinity for IGF-binding protein 3 about 25-fold. Because circulating IGFBPs normally sequester most IGF-1, that makes DES roughly 10-fold more potent than intact IGF-1 in binding-protein-rich conditions, while being essentially equipotent where IGFBPs are absent. In one myoblast assay it produced a half-maximal protein-synthesis response at 1.5 ng/mL versus 13 ng/mL for IGF-1. It binds the type-I IGF receptor identically to IGF-1 — the potency difference is entirely about escaping the binding proteins, not about a stronger signal.

Key Benefits

• About 10x the potency of IGF-1 where binding proteins are present
• 25-fold lower IGFBP-3 affinity — the mechanism is well characterised
• Naturally occurring rather than a designed analogue
• Short duration of action suits localised research use

Category Ratings

How to Take

Common Side Effects

• Hypoglycaemia — IGF-1 analogues lower blood glucose
• Injection site irritation
• Localised swelling
• Theoretical risk of promoting growth in existing tumours
• Systemic effects in humans from injection are uncharacterised

Legal & Regulatory Status

Research use only. Not FDA-approved. Potency data comes from cell-culture and animal work; no human administration trials exist. WADA-prohibited.

Safety and regulatory details for FDA-approved compounds are drawn from the official product label via openFDA; clinical development status reflects ClinicalTrials.gov. This information is provided for research reference, is not endorsed by the FDA, and may not be complete or current.

Research & Sources

• Des(1-3)IGF-I: a truncated form of insulin-like growth factor-I — review (PMID 8930132)
• Granulosa cell IGFBPs inhibit IGF-I action — evidence from the truncated analogue, 10-fold potency finding (PMC443207)
• A key functional role for the IGF-1 N-terminal pentapeptide (PMC1138570)
• des-(1-3)-IGF-I used to mimic an IGF-II autocrine loop in human colon-carcinoma cells (PMID 1281142)

Sources are selected for reliability (peer-reviewed literature, openFDA, ClinicalTrials.gov) but this is a research summary, not medical advice, and may not be exhaustive.