Plain-English definitions of terms used in the papers and registry entries linked from this library. Educational information only. It is not medical advice and not guidance on using any substance.
Tina is an AI research guide who has read the published research collected here and shares it as objectively as she can, for free. She's not a doctor and doesn't give medical advice.
Peptide
A short chain of amino acids. Longer chains are usually called proteins. There is no single agreed cut-off between the two.
Amino acid
A small molecule that is a building block of peptides and proteins.
Receptor
A structure on or inside a cell that a signaling molecule can bind to.
Agonist
A substance that binds to a receptor and activates it.
Melanocortin receptor
One of five related receptors (MC1R to MC5R) that respond to melanocortin peptides such as alpha-MSH and ACTH. They are studied in areas such as pigmentation, energy balance, inflammation and adrenal function.
GLP-1
Glucagon-like peptide-1, a natural hormone. Medicines that act on its receptor are called GLP-1 receptor agonists.
GIP
Glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, another natural hormone. Some compounds act on both the GIP and GLP-1 receptors.
Glucagon
A natural hormone. Some compounds in research act on the glucagon receptor as well as others, which is why papers call them dual or triple agonists.
Preclinical
Research done before testing in people, such as lab work or animal studies.
In vitro
Done in a lab dish or test tube, outside a living organism.
In vivo
Done in a living organism, such as an animal study or a human trial.
Clinical trial
A research study in human volunteers that follows a written plan.
Phase 1, 2, 3 and 4
Labels for trial stages. Phase 1 trials are usually small. Later phases usually involve more people. Phase 4 follows after a medicine is approved. The exact aims vary by trial.
Randomized
Participants are assigned to groups by chance.
Placebo
An inactive comparison given so results can be compared with an active treatment.
Double-blind
Neither the participants nor the researchers know who is in which group until the study ends.
Endpoint
The outcome a study is designed to measure. The primary endpoint is the main one.
Adverse event
Any unwanted medical event during a study, whether or not it is caused by the treatment under study.
Sample size
The number of participants in a study.
Observational study
A study that watches what happens without assigning treatments.
Case report
A description of one patient or a few patients. It cannot show cause and effect.
Peer review
Review of a paper by independent experts before a journal publishes it. It is not a guarantee that the findings are right.
Preprint
A paper shared before peer review. Treat it as preliminary.
Systematic review
A review that searches for and assesses studies using a stated method.
Meta-analysis
A statistical method that combines the results of several studies.
PubMed
A free index of biomedical papers run by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. It indexes papers and does not rate them.
ClinicalTrials.gov
A registry of clinical studies run by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Sponsors enter and update their own entries.
NCT number
The identifier of a study in ClinicalTrials.gov, such as NCT01234567.
Investigational
A product still being studied and not approved for the use being studied.
Regulator
A government body that decides how medicines are authorized, labeled and monitored, such as the FDA, Health Canada, the EMA or the MHRA.
Compounding
The preparation of a customized medicine by a pharmacy. Regulators set rules for when it is allowed.
Confidence interval
A range that shows how precise an estimate is. A wider range means less precision.
Statistical significance
A statistical test result suggesting a difference is unlikely to be due to chance alone. It does not say whether a difference matters in practice.
Tina is an AI research guide who has read the published research collected here and shares it as objectively as she can, for free. She's not a doctor and doesn't give medical advice.
Third-party links, listed for reference. Educational information only, not medical advice. Hypnotic Dose does not endorse any product.