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MOTS-c Dosage Calculator

Enter the vial strength, the bacteriostatic water you added and the dose your clinician prescribed, and the calculator returns the concentration, the volume to draw and the units on a U-100 insulin syringe. The arithmetic is standard pharmacy dimensional analysis, shown in full. It does not choose a dose.

  • Calculator
  • About 3 min
  • Reconstitution arithmetic (Boyer, Math for Nurses)
  • Runs in your browser, nothing is sent
  • Medical review: Medical review pending
Open the calculator

What this calculator works out

A lyophilized peptide vial holds a powder, not a solution. Once you add bacteriostatic water, the strength per milliliter depends entirely on how much water went in, and the units on an insulin syringe depend on that strength. Those three numbers are where dosing mistakes happen, and they are pure arithmetic.

  1. 1

    Concentration after reconstitution

    Micrograms per milliliter: the vial's milligrams times 1,000, divided by the milliliters of bacteriostatic water added. A 10 mg vial with 2 mL of water holds 5,000 mcg/mL; the same vial with 4 mL holds 2,500 mcg/mL. Every later number depends on this one.

  2. 2

    Volume and syringe units per dose

    The prescribed micrograms divided by the concentration gives milliliters; milliliters times 100 gives the reading on a U-100 insulin syringe. The headline number is the units, because that is what you read on the barrel. The milliliters are shown beside it for syringes marked in mL.

  3. 3

    Doses per vial

    How many full doses of the prescribed size the vial contains, rounded down. Useful for working out how long a vial lasts and whether the refrigerated shelf life after reconstitution, typically a few weeks, will run out before the vial does.

How this compares with a typical online quiz

FeatureTypical free quizRegenerated.com
Formula shown with its sourceRarelyYes, standard dimensional analysis (Boyer, Math for Nurses)
Suggests or pre-fills a doseOftenNever; the prescription is the only dose it takes
Flags a draw too small to measure accuratelyNoYes, under 3 units
Regulatory status stated plainlyNoYes, with the FDA page cited
Sells or links to productCommonNever
Email gate before the resultCommonNone
Answers sent to a serverOftenNever; scored in your browser, counts-only events

What MOTS-c is, and what the evidence says

MOTS-c is a 16-amino-acid peptide encoded inside the mitochondrial genome, in the 12S ribosomal RNA gene, first described by Lee and colleagues in 2015. In mice it improved insulin sensitivity, limited weight gain on a high-fat diet and acted on the AMPK pathway in skeletal muscle. Later work showed that blood levels rise with exercise in humans and that giving the peptide to older mice improved their physical capacity. Clinics that offer it market those findings as metabolic, exercise-capacity and healthy-aging benefits.

The human evidence is thin. There is no published randomized trial of MOTS-c itself in people. A related analog was tested in a small early-phase trial in adults with obesity and fatty liver, and the results were reported in a company announcement rather than a full publication. The doses used in animal studies are weight-based figures that do not translate to a human dose, and no published human dose exists. Anyone offering MOTS-c is working from clinical judgment rather than from a label, and this page says so because the search phrase that brings most readers here implies a settled dose that does not exist.

Regulatory status

MOTS-c is not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for any use. On September 29, 2023 the FDA placed it in category 2 of the bulk drug substances nominated for compounding under section 503A, the category for substances that raise significant safety risks, citing a possible immunogenicity risk for some routes of administration, complexities with peptide impurities and characterization, and the absence of any human exposure data. The nomination was then withdrawn by the nominator. The FDA's 503A category list updated April 22, 2026 removed MOTS-c from category 2 on exactly that ground, the list updated May 14, 2026 does not carry it in any category, and the agency's safety-risk page, current as of April 22, 2026, lists it among the withdrawn nominations with the same safety concerns still set out. We checked both on October 8, 2026. A withdrawn nomination is a decision by whoever nominated the substance, not an FDA finding that the substance is safe, and it is not permission to compound: section 503A lets a pharmacy compound from a bulk substance only if that substance has a USP or NF monograph, is a component of an FDA-approved drug product, or appears on the 503A bulks list, and MOTS-c meets none of the three, so a US pharmacy has no route under 503A to compound it from bulk. The FDA consulted its Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee on July 23, 2026 on whether MOTS-c-related bulk substances should go on that list, and the agency's own briefing document for that meeting proposed that they not be included; the committee's advice is non-binding, and as of October 8, 2026 the FDA had not acted on it. Ask the prescriber which pharmacy would fill it and on what basis, and treat any claim that MOTS-c is FDA-approved as false.

Reading a U-100 insulin syringe

U-100 means 100 units per milliliter, so a full 1 mL syringe reads 100 units, a 0.5 mL syringe reads 50 and a 0.3 mL syringe reads 30. The units are a volume scale, not a measure of peptide; 10 units is always 0.1 mL whatever is in the vial. Most 0.3 mL and 0.5 mL syringes are marked in single units, some in half units, and a draw under about 3 units sits in the first few marks where measurement error is largest. If the calculator returns a very small number of units, the usual fix is not a different dose but a larger volume of bacteriostatic water, which lowers the concentration and makes the same dose a bigger, more readable draw. That is a conversation for the prescriber or the dispensing pharmacist, since the vial's total volume and its post-reconstitution shelf life both change with it.

Bacteriostatic water contains 0.9 percent benzyl alcohol, which is what allows a vial to be used for multiple doses over several weeks under refrigeration. Sterile water without a preservative is for single use. Which diluent, how much, and how long the reconstituted vial may be kept are instructions that come with the prescription, and the calculator takes the volume you actually used, not a value it assumes.

Methodology and sources

The calculator applies the standard dimensional analysis taught for reconstituting a powdered medication, as set out in Boyer's Math for Nurses and reflected in the compounding practice of USP General Chapter 797 on diluent volumes. The concentration after reconstitution equals the vial's milligrams times 1,000, divided by the milliliters of diluent added, giving micrograms per milliliter. The volume per dose equals the prescribed micrograms divided by that concentration. Units on a U-100 syringe equal milliliters times 100. Doses per vial equals the vial's micrograms divided by the prescribed micrograms, rounded down. The arithmetic is exact and has no population or age limits; what limits it is the accuracy of the three numbers you type in and the precision of the syringe you read.

A worked example: a 5 mg vial reconstituted with 2 mL of bacteriostatic water holds 5,000 mcg divided by 2 mL, which is 2,500 mcg/mL. A prescribed 250 mcg dose is 250 divided by 2,500, which is 0.1 mL, and 0.1 mL times 100 is 10 units on a U-100 syringe. The vial holds 5,000 divided by 250, which is 20 such doses. For a 10 mg vial the concentration doubles at the same water volume: 10,000 mcg in 2 mL is 5,000 mcg/mL, so any given dose is half the volume it would be from a 5 mg vial, and a 10 mg vial reconstituted with 4 mL returns to 2,500 mcg/mL. The example doses here illustrate the arithmetic only; the calculator takes whatever dose your clinician wrote.

Two things the arithmetic cannot check. First, whether the prescription is in micrograms or milligrams: 1 mg is 1,000 mcg, and a prescription written in mg must be converted before it is entered, since a tenfold slip in either direction is the most common dosing error with peptides. Second, whether the vial label states the peptide content or the total powder weight; compounding pharmacies label the active content, and a label that is unclear is a question for the pharmacist before anything is drawn up. Reconstituted peptide vials are kept refrigerated and their shelf life is set by the dispensing pharmacy, usually a matter of weeks.

Medical review: Medical review pending. Last updated .

References

  1. Boyer MJ. Math for Nurses: A Pocket Guide to Dosage Calculation and Drug Preparation. 9th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer; 2016.
  2. Lee C, Zeng J, Drew BG, et al. The mitochondrial-derived peptide MOTS-c promotes metabolic homeostasis and reduces obesity and insulin resistance. Cell Metab. 2015;21(3):443-454. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2015.02.009
  3. Reynolds JC, Lai RW, Woodhead JST, et al. MOTS-c is an exercise-induced mitochondrial-encoded regulator of age-dependent physical decline and muscle homeostasis. Nat Commun. 2021;12(1):470. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-20790-0
  4. US Food and Drug Administration. Certain bulk drug substances for use in compounding that may present significant safety risks. FDA Human Drug Compounding. Content current as of April 22, 2026; checked October 8, 2026. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/certain-bulk-drug-substances-use-compounding-may-present-significant-safety-risks
  5. US Food and Drug Administration. Bulk drug substances nominated for use in compounding under section 503A of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, category list updated May 14, 2026 (and the April 22, 2026 version recording the withdrawn nomination), with the FDA briefing document for the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee meeting of July 23 and 24, 2026. Checked October 8, 2026. https://www.fda.gov/media/94155/download and https://www.fda.gov/media/193342/download

MOTS-c Dosage Calculator FAQ

It depends on the concentration you made, and the concentration depends on how much water you added. Enter the vial strength, the water volume and the prescribed dose and the calculator returns the units. There is no fixed answer for a 10 mg vial or any other size without the water volume and the prescription.

No. It converts a dose your clinician has already prescribed into a volume and a syringe reading. No published human dose for MOTS-c exists, the compound is not FDA-approved, and the animal study doses do not translate to people. The only dose this page accepts is the one on your prescription.

It is not FDA-approved for any use, and it is not a substance a US pharmacy may compound from bulk. The FDA placed it in 503A category 2 for significant safety risks on September 29, 2023. The nomination was later withdrawn by the nominator: the 503A category list updated April 22, 2026 removed it from category 2 on that ground, the list updated May 14, 2026 does not carry it in any category, and the agency's safety-risk page, current as of April 22, 2026, lists it among the withdrawn nominations. We checked both on October 8, 2026. A withdrawn nomination is a decision by whoever nominated the substance, not an FDA finding that the substance is safe. Section 503A lets a pharmacy compound from a bulk substance only if that substance has a USP or NF monograph, is a component of an FDA-approved drug product, or appears on the 503A bulks list, and MOTS-c is none of those. The FDA consulted its advisory committee on July 23, 2026 about adding it, having proposed in its own briefing document that it not be included; that advice is non-binding and the agency had not acted on it as of October 8, 2026. The prescriber and the pharmacy are the right people to ask what that means for a particular prescription.

A draw under about 3 units sits in the least accurate part of the syringe. The arithmetic fix is more diluent, which lowers the concentration and makes the same dose a larger draw, but the total vial volume and the shelf life change with it, so raise it with the prescriber or pharmacist rather than adjusting on your own.

One milligram is 1,000 micrograms. Vials are labeled in mg; peptide prescriptions are often written in mcg. If your prescription says mg, multiply by 1,000 before entering it. A tenfold error here is the single most common mistake with peptide dosing.

Yes. Your answers and the numbers you enter are scored in your browser and are never sent to us. They stay in this browser tab so you can return to your result, and closing the tab clears them. The only thing the page sends us is a counts-only event: which test was started or completed, the result band and the headline number, with no answers, no entered values and no account. There is nothing to sign up for.

Find clinics that prescribe peptides with physician oversight

Browse US clinics offering peptide therapy. Look for a licensed prescriber on the profile, baseline and repeat labs, a plain statement of what is and is not FDA-approved, and the risks explained before anything is dispensed. A listing is not an endorsement.

Browse peptide therapy clinics

A listing is not a treatment endorsement. Read each clinic's published checks and talk to your clinician before starting any treatment.

Important: This calculator is educational arithmetic on numbers you enter. It does not choose, suggest or approve a dose, and it is not medical advice, a diagnosis or an endorsement of MOTS-c, which is not FDA-approved. The dose, the diluent and the schedule come from your prescribing clinician and dispensing pharmacy. If your symptoms are severe or sudden, seek urgent medical care.