Peptides for Women: What the Evidence Shows

GLP-1 drugs such as semaglutide and tirzepatide have the best evidence for women’s weight loss, and they work across menopause stages. Two bone drugs and one libido drug also have trials in women. Most other peptides pitched to women, including collagen, GHK-Cu, tesamorelin and sermorelin, don’t have the evidence the pitch claims.

Below: what has trial data, what doesn’t, and what to ask your prescriber.

Which peptides work for women, by goal?

Do GLP-1 drugs work better in women?

On average, yes. A pooled analysis of 14 studies found women lost 1.69 percentage points more than men (Yang et al., 2025).

The SURMOUNT-5 trial (Lilly-funded, 72 weeks, 751 adults) compared the two drugs head to head: tirzepatide gave 20.2% weight loss against 13.7% for semaglutide (Aronne et al., 2025). Among people who stayed on treatment, women lost 23.8% on tirzepatide and 18.0% on semaglutide. Men lost 17.8% and 11.0% (TCTMD report). Men started heavier (127 kg against 106 kg), which changes the percentages.

Menopause stage barely mattered. SURMOUNT-1 showed tirzepatide cutting weight 26% before menopause, 23% during perimenopause and 23% after menopause, against 2 to 3% on placebo (Tchang et al., 2025). Lilly’s team wrote that analysis.

Does hormone therapy add to GLP-1 weight loss?

Maybe. It isn’t proven. A Mayo Clinic review of patient records found 16 women on hormone therapy lost 16% of their weight in 12 months on semaglutide, against 12% for 90 women not on it (Hurtado et al., 2024). No randomized trial exists.

The Spanish Menopause Society calls the link hypothesis-generating and says it shouldn’t be a reason to start hormone therapy (Sánchez-Prieto et al., 2026). If you take both, the British Menopause Society has guidance on using these drugs with HRT. Ask your prescriber how your form of HRT fits.

What are the risks of GLP-1 drugs for women?

• Muscle loss. About 25% of the weight lost in the SURMOUNT-1 body-scan substudy was lean mass, which includes muscle (Look et al., 2025). A joint advisory suggests strength training at least 3 days a week and 1.2 to 1.6 g of protein per kg of body weight (Mozaffarian et al., 2025). That advice is proposed, not proven in GLP-1 users. At the start of the menopause transition, fat gain doubles and lean mass falls even without these drugs (Greendale et al., 2019).
• Hair loss. The Wegovy label reports hair loss in 3.3% of patients on the 2.4 mg dose (4% of women, 0.9% of men). The Zepbound label reports 7.1% of women against 0.5% of men. If thinning hair worries you, tell your prescriber before you start.
• Birth control. The Zepbound label says the drug may make oral contraceptives less effective. It advises switching to a non-oral method or adding a barrier method for 4 weeks after starting and after each dose increase.
• Pregnancy. The Wegovy label says to stop at least 2 months before a planned pregnancy. The Zepbound label says to stop when a pregnancy is recognized.
• Cancer. A Florida cohort of 86,632 adults linked GLP-1 use to 17% fewer cancers overall (hazard ratio 0.83). It also showed a possible kidney cancer signal (hazard ratio 1.38, 0.99 to 1.93). It’s observational, so it can’t show cause (Dai et al., 2025).
• Heart events. SELECT enrolled 17,604 adults with heart disease, 72% of them men. Semaglutide cut major cardiovascular events by 20% (hazard ratio 0.80) (Lincoff et al., 2023). The result doesn’t apply to every midlife woman.
• Compounded versions. FDA has received reports of 990 adverse events for compounded semaglutide and more than 730 for compounded tirzepatide, and says these are probably undercounts (FDA).

Do GLP-1 drugs help PCOS?

A little, in small trials. A meta-analysis of 4 randomized trials in 176 women with PCOS and obesity found less waist size (-5.16 cm), lower BMI (-2.42) and lower testosterone (mean difference -1.33). Most of the women took liraglutide (Morais et al., 2024). No GLP-1 drug has an FDA-approved PCOS indication.

Is retatrutide approved?

No. It’s investigational. The 80-week TRIUMPH-1 trial (2,339 adults, Lilly-funded) found the 12 mg dose cut weight 25.0% against 3.9% on placebo (Jastreboff et al., 2026). The 28.7% in headlines comes from a 68-week knee osteoarthritis trial and counts only people who stayed on the drug.

Which peptides treat osteoporosis?

Two prescription peptides, in separate trials. Both are approved for postmenopausal women with osteoporosis at high risk of fracture (Forteo label, Tymlos label).

• Teriparatide: in 1,637 women, the 20 µg dose cut new vertebral fractures from 14% to 5% (65% fewer) and nonvertebral fractures from 6% to 3% (about 53% fewer) (Neer et al., 2001).
• Abaloparatide: in 2,463 women over 18 months, vertebral fractures fell from 4.2% to 0.6% (86% fewer). Nonvertebral fractures fell 43%, a borderline result (p = 0.049) (Miller et al., 2016).

Do collagen peptides help bone, skin or muscle?

There are small signals, and the industry funded most of the trials.

• Bone. A 12-month trial of 131 postmenopausal women (average age 64) found 5 g a day raised spine and femoral neck density slightly more than placebo. The collagen maker’s researchers were involved (König et al., 2018). A 4-year follow-up of 31 women had no control group, and only some of the changes reached statistical significance (Zdzieblik et al., 2021). A 2025 meta-analysis found density gains, with high heterogeneity (Sun et al., 2025).
• Skin. A meta-analysis of 26 trials found better hydration and elasticity (Pu et al., 2023). A later analysis found no effect in trials the industry didn’t fund, and in high-quality trials (Myung and Park, 2025).
• Muscle. Among 77 premenopausal women doing resistance training for 12 weeks, 15 g a day added about 0.6 kg more fat-free mass than placebo (1.0 kg against 0.4 kg). Leg strength gains didn’t differ. The maker part-funded it, and nobody tested it in GLP-1 users (Jendricke et al., 2019).
• Source. A crossover study found comparable uptake from fish, pork and beef collagen, so marine isn’t shown to be better (Virgilio et al., 2024).

Does GHK-Cu help hair or skin?

No human trial has tested it on the scalp. The paper the old claim rested on was a mouse study of a delivery formula (Liu et al., 2023). A 2026 review of GHK-Cu in skin care calls the clinical evidence sparse (Mateescu et al., 2026).

Pattern hair loss is common after menopause. One Thai study of 178 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 65 found about 52% had it, mostly mild (Chaikittisilpa et al., 2022).

Does PT-141 (Vyleesi) help low desire?

A little. Two 24-week placebo-controlled trials in premenopausal women found bremelanotide gave about 0.35 points more on the desire scale and less distress. Nausea hit 40%, flushing 20% and headache 11%. The makers sponsored the trials (Kingsberg et al., 2019).

It’s approved for premenopausal women only. Flibanserin (Addyi) is the other approved drug for that group (Gelman and Atrio, 2017).

Do tesamorelin, semax or sermorelin help?

None has the evidence the pitch claims.

• Tesamorelin and brain fog. A 20-week trial of 152 adults aged 55 to 87 found better executive function (p = 0.005) but only a trend in verbal memory (p = 0.08). Results didn’t differ by sex, and the paper doesn’t report them by estrogen use (Baker et al., 2012). A 2025 trial in people with HIV found no clear cognitive benefit (Ellis et al., 2025). Egrifta is approved only for abdominal fat in HIV lipodystrophy.
• Semax. The findings on BDNF, a brain growth factor, are from rats. Human data are small, mostly Russian stroke studies (Gusev et al., 2018).
• Brain fog in general. A study of 43 women found cognitive problems in the transition were usually mild and temporary (Grummisch et al., 2023).
• Sermorelin and sleep. A 16-week trial in 10 women and 9 men aged 55 to 71 found a growth-hormone-releasing hormone analog close to sermorelin left sleep quality unchanged in both sexes. Well-being and libido improved in men but not women (Khorram et al., 1997).

Does kisspeptin help IVF?

It’s experimental. A trial of 60 women at high risk of ovarian hyperstimulation found one kisspeptin-54 injection led to egg maturation in 95%. The trial was open-label with no control group, and no woman developed moderate, severe or critical hyperstimulation (Abbara et al., 2015).

Which of these are legal and allowed in sport?

Prescription peptides with FDA approval for women’s use: semaglutide, tirzepatide, bremelanotide, teriparatide and abaloparatide. Tesamorelin is approved for HIV lipodystrophy only. Compounded versions need a prescription from a licensed prescriber and a licensed pharmacy.

On FDA’s compounding page, ipamorelin acetate, GHRP-2 and GHRP-6 sit in Category 2 under the 503B policy, FDA’s list of substances that may pose significant safety risks when compounded. BPC-157, TB-500, injectable GHK-Cu, epitalon, MOTS-c, CJC-1295, LL-37, melanotan II, thymosin alpha-1, AOD-9604 and selank acetate are listed as nominated but withdrawn. A withdrawn nomination isn’t an approval.

Since 28 October 2026, an HHS interim policy covers six substances only: BPC-157, TB-500, epitalon, semax, KPV and MOTS-c, as prescribed, patient-specific compounded drugs. It doesn’t cover ipamorelin, CJC-1295 or GHK-Cu.

The WADA Prohibited List bans tesamorelin, sermorelin, CJC-1295, ipamorelin, GHRPs, TB-500, BPC-157 and MOTS-c at all times. GLP-1 drugs aren’t on it.

What should you ask your prescriber?

• Is a GLP-1 drug right for me, given my history and my plans for pregnancy?
• How should I protect muscle and bone while I lose weight?
• How does my form of hormone therapy fit with the drug?
• Do I need non-oral birth control?

For menopause symptoms, the Menopause Society’s 2022 hormone therapy statement and 2023 nonhormone statement are the baseline. For the male side, see our guide to peptides for men. For the wider ranking by goal, see best peptides.

Questions