MOTS-c Dosage Calculator: Reconstitution and Syringe Units
REVIEWED BY
Marcus Reinhardt — Chemical Researcher, Lead Analyst & Peptide Research Advisor
Marcus Reinhardt is a chemical researcher specializing in sustainable materials and advanced formulation science, with research experience in compound development and health optimization. He reviews all Peptide Insider educational content for scientific accuracy, strength of supporting evidence, and practical relevance. Editorial team.
Written by Marcus Reinhardt · Lead Analyst, Peptide Insider · LinkedIn
Evidence-first peptide coverage — every claim on this page is linked to its primary source and reviewed against our editorial policy
Citations verified against PubMed · Published: 2026-09-07 · Last updated: 2026-09-16
MOTS-c is a 16-amino-acid mitochondrial-derived peptide sold on the research market as lyophilized powder that has to be reconstituted before anything about it can be measured. This MOTS-c dosage calculator turns the vial size and the water you add into a concentration, then converts any amount you type into insulin-syringe units, showing each step of the arithmetic and drawing the result on a syringe. It is a converter for a peptide that has no human dosing trial behind it, and the page is written to be plain about that.
WHAT THIS TOOL IS, AND IS NOT
It converts the vial size and water volume you enter into a concentration, and converts an amount you choose into insulin-syringe units. Nothing is pre-filled as a dose and nothing on this page recommends one. MOTS-c has no published human dosing trial; every figure in circulation for people is extrapolated or anecdotal, which is exactly why this page will not supply one. For what the one human trial of a MOTS-c analog administered and the amounts people actually report, see our MOTS-c dosage report.
How the MOTS-c math works
Three steps, and every peptide calculator uses the same three. First, concentration: milligrams in the vial divided by millilitres of bacteriostatic water added gives mg/mL. A 10 mg vial with 2 mL of water is 5 mg/mL. Second, what one syringe unit holds: a U-100 insulin syringe has 100 units per millilitre, so one unit is 0.01 mL, and the amount in one unit is the concentration divided by 100 (in mg) or multiplied by 10 (in mcg). At 5 mg/mL, one unit holds 50 mcg. Third, units to draw: the amount you chose, in mcg, divided by the mcg in one unit.
Two practical consequences fall out of that arithmetic. Adding more water lowers the concentration, so any given amount becomes more units and is easier to read on the syringe; adding less water does the opposite and can push an amount below two units, where the markings stop being precise. And the vial’s total content sets a hard ceiling: it does not matter how it is diluted, a 10 mg vial only ever contains 10 mg.
MOTS-c reconstitution chart
The same arithmetic laid out for the vial sizes MOTS-c is commonly sold in, at one, two and three millilitres of bacteriostatic water. “Per unit” is one mark on a U-100 insulin syringe; “per 10 units” is 0.1 mL. These are conversions, not doses.
| Vial | Water added | Concentration | Per unit | Per 10 units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 mg | 1 mL | 5 mg/mL | 50 mcg | 500 mcg |
| 5 mg | 2 mL | 2.5 mg/mL | 25 mcg | 250 mcg |
| 5 mg | 3 mL | 1.667 mg/mL | 16.67 mcg | 166.7 mcg |
| 10 mg | 1 mL | 10 mg/mL | 100 mcg | 1,000 mcg |
| 10 mg | 2 mL | 5 mg/mL | 50 mcg | 500 mcg |
| 10 mg | 3 mL | 3.333 mg/mL | 33.33 mcg | 333.3 mcg |
| 20 mg | 1 mL | 20 mg/mL | 200 mcg | 2,000 mcg |
| 20 mg | 2 mL | 10 mg/mL | 100 mcg | 1,000 mcg |
| 20 mg | 3 mL | 6.667 mg/mL | 66.67 mcg | 666.7 mcg |
| 40 mg | 1 mL | 40 mg/mL | 400 mcg | 4,000 mcg |
| 40 mg | 2 mL | 20 mg/mL | 200 mcg | 2,000 mcg |
| 40 mg | 3 mL | 13.333 mg/mL | 133.33 mcg | 1,333.3 mcg |
Table values are exact arithmetic (mg ÷ mL; mcg per unit = mg/mL × 10). They assume the vial label is accurate, which for research-market products is only established by a batch-matched certificate of analysis.
Is there a studied MOTS-c dose? No
MOTS-c was described in 2015 by Changhan Lee and colleagues at the University of Southern California as a 16-amino-acid peptide encoded within the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene. In that paper, MOTS-c given to mice “prevented age-dependent and high-fat-diet-induced insulin resistance, as well as diet-induced obesity” (PMID 25738459). That is animal work. Eleven years on, PubMed still holds no clinical trial in which MOTS-c was administered to people at defined doses and followed for outcomes. The human literature measures circulating MOTS-c in blood; it does not inject the peptide. An analogue developed by CohBar, CB4211, reached early-phase human testing according to the company’s own announcements, but we have found no peer-reviewed publication of its dosing results, and an analogue is in any case not the peptide sold in research vials.
So the figures quoted for MOTS-c on forums and vendor pages come from three places, none of them a human trial: mouse protocols scaled by body weight, other peptides’ protocols borrowed wholesale, and other people’s experiments. Body-weight scaling from mice is not how pharmacology converts doses even for well-characterised compounds, and MOTS-c has no human pharmacokinetics, no human safety data and no human dose-response curve to anchor a conversion to. That is why this page stops at arithmetic. Our MOTS-c for weight loss guide walks through what the mouse and observational data actually show.
Reconstitution notes that change the numbers
Bacteriostatic water, not sterile water, for multi-draw vials. Bacteriostatic water contains 0.9% benzyl alcohol, which is what allows a reconstituted vial to be entered more than once; sterile water has no preservative. Our bacteriostatic water guide covers the label facts.
Volume added is the number that matters, not the vial’s stated capacity. If you add 2 mL, the concentration uses 2 mL regardless of whether the water vial says 10 mL or 30 mL. Measure the water with the same insulin syringe you will draw with, since 100 units is 1 mL.
Lyophilized powder adds a negligible volume. A few milligrams of peptide dissolved in millilitres of water does not change the volume in a way an insulin syringe can resolve, which is why every calculator, including this one, ignores it.
Label accuracy is the biggest error term. A vial labelled 10 mg that assays at 80% of label contains 8 mg of the stated compound, and every number above shifts with it. This is why a recent, batch-matched third-party certificate of analysis is the minimum standard on Peptide Insider, and why we publish how to read one.
Frequently asked questions
Does this calculator recommend a MOTS-c dose?
No. The amount field is blank until you type into it. The calculator converts the vial size and water volume you enter into a concentration and converts the amount you choose into syringe units. Because no human trial of MOTS-c has been published, there is no studied dose to reproduce here, and we do not pass on forum figures.
How many units is 1 mg of MOTS-c?
It depends on how much water went into the vial. As arithmetic only: a 10 mg vial in 2 mL is 5 mg/mL, so 1 mg is 0.2 mL, which is 20 units on a U-100 insulin syringe; the same vial in 1 mL is 10 mg/mL and 1 mg becomes 10 units. Type your own vial, water and amount into the calculator to see your numbers.
Has MOTS-c ever been tested in humans?
Not in a published dosing trial. The 2015 discovery paper (Lee et al., Cell Metabolism) and the work that followed it are in mice and cells, and the human studies that exist measure MOTS-c levels in blood rather than administering the peptide. A company-developed analogue reached early human testing, but its results were announced rather than published.
Why does my MOTS-c vial say 10 mg but the certificate of analysis shows less?
The label states the nominal content; the certificate reports what was measured. A vial that assays at 90% purity contains 9 mg of MOTS-c, and every calculation shifts by the same 10%. That gap is why a batch-matched, third-party certificate is the minimum standard we hold vendors to, and why the calculator’s numbers are only as good as the label.
Can I use another peptide's calculator for MOTS-c?
Yes, the arithmetic is identical for every lyophilized peptide: milligrams divided by millilitres gives the concentration, and a U-100 syringe always holds 0.01 mL per unit. The compound name only changes what you type. This page exists so the MOTS-c-specific context, above all the absence of human dosing data, sits next to the numbers.
Which syringe size should I select?
The one you actually have. The 30, 50 and 100 options are all U-100 insulin syringes, so one unit is 0.01 mL on each; the choice changes only the capacity ceiling and the drawing. The calculator warns when an amount exceeds the selected syringe or falls below two units, where the markings stop being precise.