MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: Educational research guidelines only. Lyophilized peptides are investigational chemical compounds and are NOT approved for human consumption, diagnosis, or therapy. Consult a licensed physician before any research application.
Oxyntomodulin Dosage Chart, Schedule & Reconstitution Protocol
Quickstart Highlights
Oxyntomodulin (OXM) is a 37-amino-acid gut hormone and GLP-1/glucagon dual agonist released by intestinal L-cells after meals. By simultaneously hitting the GLP-1 receptor (appetite suppression, slowed gastric emptying, glucose-dependent insulin release) and the glucagon receptor (increased energy expenditure and fat oxidation), it drives negative energy balance. In humans, intravenous infusion cut food intake by ~19% (PMID 14557443) and a four-week subcutaneous course at 400 nmol three times daily produced about 2.3 kg of weight loss versus 0.5 kg on placebo (PMID 16046306). Its Achilles heel is a ~12-minute plasma half-life from rapid DPP-4 degradation, which forces frequent pre-meal dosing and inspired the long-acting analogs now in trials. Native oxyntomodulin is not FDA or EMA approved and is handled as an investigational research peptide; the reconstitution and dosing details here are an educational reference, not medical advice.
Reconstitute: Add 3 mL bacteriostatic water → 10 mg/mL concentration.
Typical dose: 1,780 mcg (400 nmol) SC 3x/day before meals
Easy measuring: At 10 mg/mL, 1 unit = 0.01 mL = 0.1 mg (100 mcg) on a U-100 insulin syringe.
Storage: Store lyophilized vials at -20°C (protected from light); refrigerate reconstituted solution at 2-8°C and use within 2-3 weeks.
Half-life: About 12 minutes in plasma (native peptide; degraded by DPP-4 and neutral endopeptidase, renally cleared)
Route: Subcutaneous injection, 3x/day pre-prandial in trials; endogenous gut hormone, not orally bioavailable
Status: Not FDA or EMA approved; investigational research peptide only
About Oxyntomodulin
Oxyntomodulin (OXM) is a native 37-amino-acid gut hormone and GLP-1/glucagon dual agonist that the body releases after meals to curb appetite and raise energy expenditure. The headline Oxyntomodulin dosage studied in humans is 400 nmol, about 1.77 mg, injected subcutaneously three times a day, 30 minutes before each main meal, the protocol used in the four-week randomized weight-loss trial by Wynne and colleagues [1][2].\n\nUnlike many compounds catalogued on this site, oxyntomodulin's real-world research route already is subcutaneous injection, so the reconstitution figures below mirror how it was genuinely administered in clinical studies rather than being a translated equivalent. It is an endogenous peptide that is not orally bioavailable, not a tablet.\n\nFrequency: Inject three times daily subcutaneously, 30 minutes before each main meal.\n\nBecause native OXM has a plasma half-life of only about 12 minutes, frequent pre-prandial dosing is required; this is also why pharmaceutical developers shifted to long-acting OXM-based analogs. The information here is an educational dosing reference for a non-approved research peptide and is not medical advice.
Quick Protocol Navigation
Reconstitution Instruction & Mixing Step-by-Step
Lyophilized powder must be reconstituted carefully. Agitating peptide chains can shear disulfide bonds and render the peptide biologically inert.
Draw 3 mL of bacteriostatic water into a syringe and inject it slowly down the inside wall of the 30 mg oxyntomodulin vial, letting it run onto the glass rather than streaming directly onto the lyophilized powder.
Swirl the vial gently in your palm until the powder fully dissolves; do not shake. This yields a clear 10 mg/mL solution (10,000 mcg per mL, so 100 mcg per insulin-syringe unit).
Swab the rubber stopper with alcohol, invert the vial, and withdraw your dose: the 400 nmol pre-prandial dose of ~1,780 mcg is 0.178 mL, about 17-18 units on a U-100 syringe; the 890 mcg acclimation dose is about 9 units.
Expel air bubbles, then inject subcutaneously into the abdomen or thigh 30 minutes before the meal, rotating sites between injections to limit local irritation.
Return the vial to the refrigerator (2-8°C) immediately after use, keep it out of direct light, and discard any reconstituted solution that becomes cloudy or has passed 2-3 weeks of refrigerated storage.
Interactive Oxyntomodulin Syringe Calculator
Currently visualizing the 30 mg vial reconstituted with 3 mL bacteriostatic water. Adjust the target dose to dynamically render syringe units.
Reconstitution Calculation: 30mg dry powder in 3mL water yields 10.00 mg/mL. To evaluate a 250mcg dose, pull to 2.5 units (3 syringe ticks).
U-100 Syringe Representation
Educational reference visual. Assumes standard U-100 insulin syringe where 1.0 mL volume = 100 units.
Titration & Dose Escalation Schedules
| Phase | Dose per injection | Units (per injection) |
|---|---|---|
| Acclimation (week 1) — single pre-meal injection | 890 mcg | 9 units (0.09 mL) |
| Build-up (week 2) — before two main meals | 1780 mcg (1.78 mg) | 18 units (0.18 mL) |
| Trial protocol — 400 nmol pre-prandial, 3x/day (Wynne 2005) | 1780 mcg (1.78 mg) | 18 units (0.18 mL) |
Administration guidelines: Refer to guidelines | 3 mL Reconstitution
Research Supplies Quantity Planner
Scientific mathematical planning of syringes, bacteriostatic water and dry vials needed for extended research blocks using the 30 mg vial.
Peptide Vials (Oxyntomodulin, 30 mg each):
- check8-week course: ~10 vials (about 1,780 mcg x 21 injections/week = ~37 mg/week)
- check12-week course: ~15 vials
- check16-week course: ~20 vials
- checkBuy a spare vial to cover any reconstitution or handling loss
Insulin Syringes (U-100):
- checkOne syringe per injection, three injections per day = 21 per week
- check8-week course: ~168 syringes
- check12-week course: ~252 syringes
- check16-week course: ~336 syringes
Bacteriostatic Water (30 mL bottles): Use 3 mL per vial for reconstitution.
- check8-week course: ~30 mL (10 vials x 3 mL) — one 30 mL bottle
- check12-week course: ~45 mL — two 30 mL bottles
- check16-week course: ~60 mL — two 30 mL bottles
Alcohol Swabs: Swab the vial stopper and injection site before every dose.
- checkRoughly 2 swabs per injection (~42 per week)
- check8-week course: ~350 swabs
- check12-week course: ~525 swabs
- check16-week course: ~700 swabs
Mechanism of Action (MOA)
Oxyntomodulin is a 37-amino-acid peptide hormone released by enteroendocrine L-cells of the distal small intestine and colon after a meal. It is cleaved from proglucagon by prohormone convertase 1/3 and consists of the full 29-residue glucagon sequence extended at the C-terminus by an eight-amino-acid octapeptide tail. This hybrid structure lets a single molecule activate two receptors: the GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) and the glucagon receptor (GCGR). It is a full agonist at both, though with lower binding affinity and potency than the native ligands GLP-1 and glucagon respectively [4].\n\nThe two arms of this dual agonism are complementary for energy balance. GLP-1R activation in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus and brainstem suppresses appetite, slows gastric emptying, and enhances glucose-dependent insulin secretion while lowering circulating ghrelin; in human infusion studies oxyntomodulin cut ghrelin by roughly 44% [3]. GCGR activation raises energy expenditure and promotes hepatic lipolysis and fatty-acid oxidation, and the simultaneous incretin effect blunts glucagon's usual tendency to raise blood glucose [6]. The net result is negative energy balance: less energy in, more energy out [2].\n\nPharmacokinetics are the defining limitation of the native peptide. After subcutaneous or intravenous administration, oxyntomodulin is rapidly inactivated by dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4), which clips the N-terminal His-Ser dipeptide, and by neutral endopeptidase, with additional renal clearance. The measured plasma half-life is only about 12 minutes [5]. Because of this, clinical trials dosed it subcutaneously three times a day, 30 minutes before each main meal, so a fresh pharmacodynamic pulse coincided with each eating occasion [1]. Route note: oxyntomodulin is an endogenous gut hormone and is not orally bioavailable as a peptide, so every human efficacy study used parenteral (SC or IV) delivery, and the subcutaneous reconstitution figures on this page mirror how it was actually administered in research.\n\nThe 400 nmol dose used in the four-week weight-loss trial corresponds to roughly 1.77 mg per injection (molecular weight about 4,448 Da). At a vial concentration of 10 mg/mL that is about 0.18 mL, or 18 units on a U-100 insulin syringe.\n\nThe short half-life is also why drug developers moved beyond native oxyntomodulin to engineered, DPP-4-resistant, long-acting OXM-based GLP-1/glucagon co-agonists (for example cotadutide/MEDI0382, survodutide/BI 456906, pemvidutide and efinopegdutide), which use aminoisobutyric-acid substitutions, lipidation, or fatty-acid acylation plus albumin or Fc binding to extend duration to once-daily or once-weekly dosing [4][7]. Native oxyntomodulin itself remains an investigational research peptide that has never been approved as a drug by the FDA or EMA; the protocol here is for educational and laboratory-reference purposes only, not medical advice.
Clinical Trial Efficacy Highlights
- starIn a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study, intravenous oxyntomodulin infusion (3.0 pmol/kg/min) reduced ad libitum buffet-meal energy intake by 19.3 +/- 5.6% and cut cumulative 12-hour intake by 11.3 +/- 6.2% in 13 healthy subjects, establishing acute appetite suppression in humans [3].
- starThe pivotal four-week subcutaneous trial by Wynne et al. (2005) used 400 nmol three times daily, 30 minutes pre-prandially; the treatment group lost 2.3 +/- 0.4 kg versus 0.5 +/- 0.5 kg on placebo, with the anorectic effect maintained over the full four weeks [1].
- starA separate randomized crossover trial in 15 overweight and obese volunteers (Wynne 2006) showed oxyntomodulin increased activity-related energy expenditure by 26.2 +/- 9.9% and raised total energy expenditure by about 9.4%, demonstrating that it acts on both sides of the energy-balance equation [2].
- starSchjoldager et al. (1988) characterized the human pharmacokinetics, calculating a plasma half-life of 12 +/- 1 minutes after infusion, and documented dose-dependent inhibition of pentagastrin-stimulated gastric acid secretion (the basis of the historic name 'oxyntomodulin') [5].
- starOxyntomodulin significantly suppressed pre-prandial ghrelin (mean reduction about 44% of the post-prandial decrease) in the acute infusion study, providing a mechanistic link between the peptide and reduced hunger scores [3].
- starTolerability in the four-week self-administration trial was favorable: transient mild nausea was reported in only about 3% of subcutaneous injections, with no change in food palatability and no significant safety signals over the study period [4].
- starMechanistic work with an oxyntomodulin analogue confirmed that its increase in energy expenditure is mediated through the glucagon receptor rather than the GLP-1 receptor, validating the rationale for dual GLP-1R/GCGR agonism in obesity [6].
- starThe native peptide served as the template for long-acting engineered co-agonists now in late-stage development (cotadutide, survodutide, pemvidutide), several of which have shown substantial weight loss and metabolic benefit in phase 2 trials, underscoring the translational importance of the oxyntomodulin scaffold [4][7].
Side Effects & Tolerability Profile
Clinical subjects transiently report mild side effects. Slowly escalating the titration dose represents the single most effective intervention to limit side effects.
- warningMild, transient nausea is the most common effect (reported in roughly 3% of injections in the four-week trial); higher or more rapidly escalated doses can provoke more nausea and occasional vomiting, consistent with the GLP-1 receptor arm of its activity [1][4].
- warningSubcutaneous administration can cause local injection-site reactions such as redness, itching, or transient soreness; rotating sites between the abdomen and thigh reduces irritation.
- warningDelayed gastric emptying can produce early satiety, fullness, bloating, or reduced appetite, which is part of the intended effect but may be uncomfortable.
- warningThrough glucagon-receptor activation, OXM-class agents can transiently raise heart rate and, in some individuals, blunt the glucose-lowering effect; native oxyntomodulin did not cause clinically significant hyperglycemia in trials, but glucose effects warrant caution.
- warningHypoglycemia risk is low with the peptide alone because its insulinotropic action is glucose-dependent, but the risk rises if combined with insulin or sulfonylureas.
- warningAs a GLP-1-receptor agonist, the broader drug class carries label cautions for personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or MEN2 and for pancreatitis; these cautions are extrapolated to oxyntomodulin and have not been formally studied for the native peptide.
- warningIt has not been evaluated for safety in pregnancy, breastfeeding, type 1 diabetes, or significant renal or hepatic impairment, and should not be used in these settings outside controlled research.
- warningRegulatory status: native oxyntomodulin is not approved by the FDA, EMA, or any major regulator for any indication; it is an investigational research peptide, and all dosing here is educational reference material, not medical advice or a treatment recommendation.
Subcutaneous Injection Technique
Most research peptides require subcutaneous injection into fatty tissue. Never inject directly into a blood vessel or deep muscle tissue unless clinically detailed.
1. Site Selection
Common locations include the abdomen (2 inches from navel), outer upper arms, or thighs.
2. Sanitization
Thoroughly clean the selected site, stopper and vial top using 70% isopropyl alcohol prep swabs.
3. Angle & Push
Pinch the skin and insert the needle at a 45 to 90-degree angle. Depress plunger smoothly.
4. Site Rotation
Rotate injection sites continuously to avoid lipodystrophy or tissue scarring.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the typical Oxyntomodulin dosage?expand_more
The most-studied human Oxyntomodulin dosage is 400 nmol, about 1.77 mg, injected subcutaneously three times a day, 30 minutes before each main meal. This is the regimen Wynne and colleagues used in their four-week randomized weight-loss trial. Research users often start lower (around 200 nmol / ~0.9 mg before a single meal) for a week to gauge gastrointestinal tolerance before building to the full three-times-daily schedule. Native oxyntomodulin is a non-approved research peptide, so these figures are an educational reference rather than a clinical recommendation.
Is Oxyntomodulin FDA approved?expand_more
No. Native oxyntomodulin is not approved by the FDA or the EMA for any indication; it remains an investigational research peptide. However, engineered long-acting oxyntomodulin-based GLP-1/glucagon dual agonists such as cotadutide, survodutide (BI 456906), and pemvidutide are in clinical development, and the broader GLP-1 class includes several approved drugs. The native hormone itself has never been marketed as a medicine.
What is the half life of Oxyntomodulin?expand_more
Native oxyntomodulin has a very short plasma half-life of about 12 minutes (12 +/- 1 min measured by Schjoldager et al.), because it is rapidly degraded by dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) and neutral endopeptidase and cleared by the kidneys. This short half-life is exactly why clinical trials dosed it three times daily before meals and why drug developers created DPP-4-resistant analogs with much longer durations.
How do you reconstitute Oxyntomodulin?expand_more
Draw 3 mL of bacteriostatic water and add it slowly to a 30 mg vial, running it down the inside wall rather than onto the powder, then swirl gently until clear. This makes a 10 mg/mL solution (100 mcg per unit on a U-100 syringe). The 400 nmol pre-prandial dose of ~1,780 mcg is then about 0.18 mL, or 17-18 units. Store the reconstituted vial at 2-8°C and use within 2-3 weeks.
Can Oxyntomodulin be stacked with other peptides?expand_more
In research settings oxyntomodulin is sometimes discussed alongside other gut-hormone peptides, but it already acts on two receptors (GLP-1 and glucagon), so combining it with additional GLP-1 agonists raises the risk of additive nausea, gastrointestinal effects, and changes in heart rate or glucose. There are no validated human stacking protocols for native OXM, and combining it with insulin or sulfonylureas increases hypoglycemia risk. This is educational information, not medical advice.
Related Guides & Tools
Step-by-step references for reconstituting, measuring, and storing Oxyntomodulin, plus the universal dosing calculator.
Academic References & Study Citations
Wynne K, Park AJ, Small CJ, et al. Subcutaneous oxyntomodulin reduces body weight in overweight and obese subjects: a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial. Diabetes. 2005;54(8):2390-2395. View Scientific Paper →
Wynne K, Park AJ, Small CJ, et al. Oxyntomodulin increases energy expenditure in addition to decreasing energy intake in overweight and obese humans: a randomised controlled trial. Int J Obes (Lond). 2006;30(12):1729-1736. View Scientific Paper →
Cohen MA, Ellis SM, Le Roux CW, et al. Oxyntomodulin suppresses appetite and reduces food intake in humans. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2003;88(10):4696-4701. View Scientific Paper →
Pocai A. Action and therapeutic potential of oxyntomodulin. Mol Metab. 2014;3(3):241-251. View Scientific Paper →
Schjoldager BT, Baldissera FG, Mortensen PE, Holst JJ, Christiansen J. Oxyntomodulin: a potential hormone from the distal gut. Pharmacokinetics and effects on gastric acid and insulin secretion in man. Eur J Clin Invest. 1988;18(5):499-503. View Scientific Paper →
Kosinski JR, Hubert J, Carrington PE, et al. The glucagon receptor is involved in mediating the body weight-lowering effects of oxyntomodulin (oxyntomodulin analogue increases energy expenditure via the glucagon receptor). View Scientific Paper →
Kueh MTW, et al. Oxyntomodulin physiology and its therapeutic development in obesity and associated complications. J Physiol. 2025. View Scientific Paper →
Tan TM, Bloom SR, et al. No Guts, No Loss: Toward the Ideal Treatment for Obesity in the Twenty-First Century. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2018;9:442. View Scientific Paper →