Is SYNAPSE Blend Banned in Sports? Tesamorelin, MOTS-c and the WADA List

SYNAPSE is four separately studied peptides in one 5 mL vial. For anti-doping purposes each is assessed on its own, and the blend takes the strictest status of any component.

Each SYNAPSE dose of 0.25 mL carries 0.5 mg tesamorelin and 0.5 mg MOTS-c. That amount is irrelevant to the anti-doping question.

S2.2.4 covers growth hormone releasing factors and secretagogues. Its first group, GHRH and its analogues, gives CJC-1293, CJC-1295, sermorelin and tesamorelin as examples. Tesamorelin is named in the List itself, not captured by a catch-all. Everything in S2 is a non-Specified Substance, which matters when sanctions are decided, and the 2027 List carries the classification forward unchanged.

An FDA-approved tesamorelin product exists, approved in November 2010 for reducing excess abdominal fat in adults with HIV who have lipodystrophy. That approval is not an exemption. The List names substances, and an approved drug can be prohibited in sport. Compounded tesamorelin is a different thing again, prepared to an individual prescription and not FDA approved; for an athlete, both are prohibited. More in is tesamorelin banned in sports.

Section S4 covers hormone and metabolic modulators. Under S4.4.1, activators of AMP-activated protein kinase are prohibited at all times, and the named examples are BAM15, AICAR and "mitochondrial open reading frame of the 12S rRNA-c (MOTS-c)." Older pages that describe MOTS-c as unnamed are out of date; the 2027 List keeps it in S4.4.1. Being on the List is a rule about the mechanism, not proof that MOTS-c improves performance in people: there are no randomised controlled trials of MOTS-c in humans. More in is MOTS-c banned in sports.

Neither neuropeptide is named on the 2026 List, but that is not the same as permitted.

• Semax is built from positions 4 to 7 of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and corticotrophins, the hormone class ACTH belongs to, are listed at S2.2.2. Semax is described as devoid of ACTH's hormonal activity, but whether that settles it is a question for your anti-doping body.
• Selank has never been approved by the FDA or by any regulator outside Russia and its neighbours, and S0 covers pharmacological substances with no current approval by any governmental health authority for human therapeutic use.

For SYNAPSE none of this changes the answer, because the blend is already prohibited through tesamorelin and MOTS-c. If you are tested and focus or stress is the goal, ask your anti-doping body about Semax or Selank alone before starting. More in is Semax banned in sports and is Selank banned in sports.

Anti-doping rules decide what is permitted in sport. They do not care whether something is legal or prescribed. Article 2.1.1 of the World Anti-Doping Code makes it each athlete's personal duty to ensure that no prohibited substance enters their body, and says intent, fault, negligence or knowing use need not be shown to establish a violation. That is strict liability.

Therapeutic use exemptions

A therapeutic use exemption (TUE) is the only route by which a prohibited substance can be permitted, and it has to be granted in advance by an anti-doping body, not by a prescriber. The athlete must show a diagnosed condition supported by clinical evidence, no enhancement beyond a return to normal health, no reasonable permitted therapeutic alternative, and a need that did not arise from earlier prohibited use without a TUE.

For SYNAPSE that route is effectively closed. USADA has stated MOTS-c is not eligible for a TUE. Tesamorelin's approved indication is one specific syndrome, and the reasons people take SYNAPSE (focus, stress, body composition) are not indicated treatments for a diagnosed condition. A four-peptide blend would need every prohibited component justified.

The NCAA bans eight drug classes, including "hormone and metabolic modulators" and "peptide hormones, growth factors, related substances and mimetics." It states that any substance chemically or pharmacologically related to a banned class is also banned even if not listed as an example, and that the school and the student-athlete are both accountable. Professional leagues, military services and some employers run their own policies; read the current one that applies to you.

Detection windows for small peptides are generally short, often hours to a few days. That is not a loophole: under Code Article 6.6 a sample reported negative can be stored and reanalysed, and Article 17 allows a charge within ten years. Treatment with tesamorelin can also raise IGF-1 on a blood test, because that is the expected consequence of how it works. The wider picture is in do peptides show up on a drug test.

A separate question with a separate answer, and none of it affects anti-doping status.

None of the four is a controlled substance. More in what is the SYNAPSE blend.

Check every medication on Global DRO, which gives a status for your sport and country and a reference number for the search. Keep it. The athlete overview is in peptides for athletes.

Other products with the same problem

Several Pepti blends share SYNAPSE's prohibited components:

Prices are all-in monthly figures covering medication, physician review, refill management and shipping, with no membership fee.

SYNAPSE cannot be bought legitimately without a prescription. The prescription route:

1. Complete a free online intake covering your history, medications, what you want help with, and whether you are subject to drug testing.
2. A physician licensed in your state reviews it, usually within 24 hours. If you are tested, say so again in your first message.
3. If it is appropriate, a PCAB-accredited, FDA-registered US 503A compounding pharmacy prepares it to that prescription. Lot test results are at /quality/lab-results.
4. It ships refrigerated with ice packs, ready to use, with sterile syringes and alcohol prep pads, and your directions printed on the vial.
5. Refills run every 28 days, one vial per fill.

SYNAPSE is $279 a month, all-in. Pepti is cash-pay and does not bill insurance. Step by step: how to get SYNAPSE blend prescribed online. Bloodwork is not required for any Pepti treatment. If your physician wants labs for your care, they'll ask through your account.