Energy-cycle metabolite · Fact sheet
Alpha-ketoglutarate
Also known as AKG · 2-oxoglutarate · calcium alpha-ketoglutarate · Ca-AKG
Alpha-ketoglutarate is not an FDA-approved anti-aging drug. Animal studies and a human trial program make it a legitimate geroscience candidate, but there is no evidence that AKG extends human life or prevents age-related disease.
What is Alpha-ketoglutarate?
AKG is a normal intermediate in the citric-acid cycle and a cofactor for enzymes involved in amino-acid metabolism and gene regulation.
Supplement research often uses a calcium salt, which should not be treated as identical to endogenous AKG biology or every commercial formulation.
Benefits people look for
A mouse study reported improved healthspan measures and compressed morbidity, with smaller lifespan effects than many headlines implied.
The ABLE randomized trial was designed around DNA-methylation age and functional measures, but a protocol is not an outcome.
What the evidence supports
- Mouse work reported lower frailty and compressed late-life morbidity under selected conditions.
- Human randomized research can test biomarker and functional hypotheses, but no result yet establishes better healthspan.
All research areas
- Healthspan and frailty in animals
- DNA-methylation age
- Inflammatory and metabolic biomarkers
- Muscle and vascular function
Anecdotal reports & lived experiences
Reports describe what someone noticed. They cannot establish cause, typical results, or how often a side effect happens.
No attributable personal reports are summarized here yet. The benefits above describe research interests; the side effects below come from the cited medical sources.
We do not fill this gap with unsourced testimonials or estimated success rates.
Side effects & risks
- Long-term safety of concentrated supplementation in diverse populations is not well characterized.
- Different salts and formulations may have different composition and absorption.
- Changes in a biological-age clock may not represent a meaningful change in health.
This is a summary of the cited evidence, not a complete product label. A lack of human safety data does not establish safety.
Clinical research: how strong is it?
Mostly animal or lab researchHealthspan evidence is dominated by animal and mechanistic work. Human studies have focused on feasibility, observational biomarkers, or trial design rather than demonstrated clinical benefit.
Selected research to read
Preclinical study that cannot establish human longevity or disease-prevention benefit.
Prospective design for biomarker and functional research, not a favorable result.
Official status and endpoint record for the randomized calcium-AKG study.
FDA approval & research status
AKG has been studied in a randomized human geroscience program but has no FDA-approved use for aging, biological-age reduction, frailty, or disease prevention.
No FDA-approved use is documented in the records summarized on this page.
Human geroscience trial program
Alpha-ketoglutarate has a Phase 2 biological-age trial record and a published protocol, but no FDA-approved anti-aging, frailty, or disease-prevention use.
This summarizes the cited product or research record. Trial phases do not establish successful completion of earlier stages, and a stopped program is not ongoing development. Approval applies only to the labeled product, use and population.
What we still don’t know
- Whether AKG changes validated human aging outcomes
- Whether epigenetic-clock changes are reproducible and clinically meaningful
- Long-term safety and interactions
- Which formulation and population, if any, has a favorable benefit-risk profile
The takeaway
AKG is foundational metabolism with real animal geroscience data. Human anti-aging benefit remains a hypothesis awaiting outcomes, not a conclusion from a biomarker.
Sources & further reading
Medical evidence and regulatory sources are listed here. Personal reports are linked separately in the experiences section.
- 1pubmedAKG mouse healthspan and lifespan study
Preclinical study that cannot establish human longevity or disease-prevention benefit.
- 2pubmedABLE randomized human study protocol
Prospective design for biomarker and functional research, not a favorable result.
- 3clinical trialsClinicalTrials.gov: ABLE study
Official status and endpoint record for the randomized calcium-AKG study.
- 4fdaFDA: dietary supplements are not preapproved for effectiveness
FDA explanation of the regulatory distinction between approved drugs and marketed dietary supplements.