--- title: "Thyrotropin Alfa" canonical_url: https://peptidelibrary.app/library/thyrotropin-alfa description: "Recombinant human thyroid-stimulating hormone approved as an adjunctive diagnostic for serum thyroglobulin testing with or without radioiodine imaging, and as an adjunct to radioiodine ablation of thyroid remnant tissue." updated: 2026-11-07 publisher: Peptide Library notice: "Research and educational use only. Not medical advice." --- # Thyrotropin Alfa Thyrotropin Alfa is a research peptide in the TSH Receptor Agonist class. Thyrotropin alfa is a heterodimeric glycoprotein produced in Chinese hamster ovary cells with the same amino acid sequence as pituitary TSH. It binds the TSH receptor on thyroid follicular cells, increasing iodine uptake and thyroglobulin release. Recombinant human thyroid-stimulating hormone approved as an adjunctive diagnostic for serum thyroglobulin testing with or without radioiodine imaging, and as an adjunct to radioiodine ablation of thyroid remnant tissue. ## Classification - Type: FDA-approved recombinant TSH - Mechanism class: TSH Receptor Agonist - Development stage: Approved product - Regulatory class: FDA-approved medicine ## Mechanism Thyrotropin alfa is a heterodimeric glycoprotein produced in Chinese hamster ovary cells with the same amino acid sequence as pituitary TSH. It binds the TSH receptor on thyroid follicular cells, increasing iodine uptake and thyroglobulin release. This allows follow-up testing without withdrawing thyroid hormone replacement, avoiding the hypothyroid state that withdrawal otherwise requires. ## Properties - Studied routes: Intramuscular ## Evidence - Evidence level: FDA Approved - Highest documented: Regulatory review (FDA label) - Human trials: 0 - Controlled human trials: 0 - Preclinical sources: 0 Each step shows whether the sources Peptide Library has reviewed include that kind of research. Counts are reviewed sources, not every study ever published. Reviews and programme summaries that describe human use are shown as "reported", not as trials, and registered trials without published results are listed but not counted. A higher step means research has progressed further; it does not mean a compound works better or is safer. Compounds whose evidence has not been reviewed yet show "Not reviewed" instead of a guess. ### Studies 1. THYROGEN (thyrotropin alfa) for injection — FDA prescribing information (Genzyme), DailyMed. Regulatory label (FDA), human. Population: Patients with well-differentiated thyroid cancer who have had thyroidectomy. Adjunctive diagnostic tool in thyroid cancer follow-up [Source](https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=b52dfa36-f90b-4e19-9b5e-26db9d04df2b) 2. THYROGEN (thyrotropin alfa) for injection — FDA prescribing information (Genzyme), DailyMed. Regulatory label (FDA), human. Population: Patients after near-total or total thyroidectomy for well-differentiated thyroid cancer, without evidence of distant metastases. Radioiodine ablation of thyroid tissue remnants [Source](https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=b52dfa36-f90b-4e19-9b5e-26db9d04df2b) ## Safety Human safety basis: FDA prescribing information ## Regulatory status Thyrotropin Alfa is an FDA-approved product for specific labelled indications. Approval does not extend to the research contexts described on this page, and approved products are prescription medicines. - FDA status: Approved - Availability: Prescription-Only ## Frequently asked questions ### What is Thyrotropin Alfa? Recombinant human thyroid-stimulating hormone approved as an adjunctive diagnostic for serum thyroglobulin testing with or without radioiodine imaging, and as an adjunct to radioiodine ablation of thyroid remnant tissue. ### How does Thyrotropin Alfa work? Thyrotropin alfa is a heterodimeric glycoprotein produced in Chinese hamster ovary cells with the same amino acid sequence as pituitary TSH. It binds the TSH receptor on thyroid follicular cells, increasing iodine uptake and thyroglobulin release. ### Is Thyrotropin Alfa FDA approved? Yes. Thyrotropin Alfa is approved by the FDA, and approved products are prescription medicines. Approval is always for specific indications studied in clinical trials, so an approved status does not mean the compound is approved for every use it is discussed for. Research-chemical material sold under the same name is not the approved product. ### What peptides are similar to Thyrotropin Alfa? Compounds most often compared with Thyrotropin Alfa include Angiotensin II, Cetrorelix, Corticorelin and Cosyntropin. They are grouped by shared mechanism or research area rather than by equivalence, and their regulatory status and evidence base differ. ## References - [Source](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19602784/) - [The effectiveness of recombinant human thyroid-stimulating hormone versus thyroid hormone withdrawal prior to radioiodine remnant ablation in thyroid cancer: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials — J Korean Med Sci, 2014](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24932083/) - [Non-surgical approach to the benign nodular goiter: new opportunities by recombinant human TSH-stimulated 131I-therapy — Endocrine, 2011](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21971931/) - [Review on the occasion of a decade of recombinant human TSH: prospects and novel uses — Thyroid, 2008](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18426363/) - [Recombinant human TSH testing for recurrent thyroid cancer: a re-appraisal — Thyroid, 2002](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12193304/) Note: Dose figures are left out of this Markdown version. See the cited sources.