Dashnaiv Peptides
Compounds·bioregulator short peptides·cartilage bioregulator claimed; no indexed primary literature

Cartalax (AED, Ala-Glu-Asp) peptide: what the cell and rat studies show, what the Russian extract Sigumir is, and what has never been tested

What 12 indexed publications and 0 randomized trials actually state about cartalax, sentence by sentence, each tied to its source and labeled by the kind of evidence it is.

Animal, preclinical Reviewed 12 sources Updated Also: Ala-Glu-Asp, Kartalaks

At a glance

Evidence availability
Human clinical evidence
Strongest tier in the indexed literature
Indexed publications
12
Europe PMC, title or abstract, 2026-09-24
Human studies in ledger
2
0 randomized; study count, not efficacy proof
Approval
none found
no registered development programme
Routes reported
culture medium, not applicable, oral (as stated for patients)
from studies in this ledger
Studied in
Human embryonic mesenchymal stem cells, Human periodontal ligament stem cells, Human skin fibroblasts, Humans, In silico, Rat kidney tissue cultures, Rats
9 primary studies in the evidence table
Reviewed by Adam Mirando, PharmD, on . What changed

What Cartalax is, and the four names its evidence hides under

Cartalax is the synthetic tripeptide Ala-Glu-Asp (AED, T-31), a Khavinson bioregulator designed from the cartilage-and-bone extract Sigumir and sold as an oral supplement in Russia and as an injectable research chemical elsewhere. Its indexed literature, found under four names and curated by hand, is twelve papers: one rat study of bone density, six cell-culture studies, a docking model and four reviews, all from the developer's group, plus a 2012 human study of the extract Sigumir and a 2023 Russian review stating the oral peptide helped older patients with osteoarthritis in studies that are not indexed. No controlled human study of Cartalax exists under any name, and no study has injected it into any animal or person.

This page reports what those papers state, sentence by sentence, labelled by the kind of evidence each is, and does not recommend use.

What the evidence level means

Publication counts show what is indexed, not how strong the evidence is. The ledger below separates human clinical records from preclinical, analytical, and in-vitro work.

Human clinical studies in this ledger20 randomized · 2 other human clinical
Evidence strengthNot yet assessedSeparate from evidence availability
Efficacy signalNot yet assessedRead the study result, not the tier alone

Interpretation boundary: An indexed publication count is a discovery measure. It does not establish efficacy, safety, approval, or a personal treatment plan.

Cartalax in two minutes

What it is. A three-amino-acid peptide, Ala-Glu-Asp, designed in St Petersburg from the composition of a cartilage-and-bone extract called Sigumir. Sold in Russia as a joint supplement and elsewhere as an injectable research chemical.

What the research actually shows. Twelve indexed papers under four names, all from the developer's group. Six are cell-culture studies of skin fibroblasts, stem cells and kidney tissue, where AED raised proliferation and collagen markers and lowered apoptosis. One is a rat study where it preserved bone density after ovariectomy, less well than the parent extract. None is a cartilage study in a living animal.

The human evidence. One indexed human study, of 62 elderly patients with jaw-joint disease in 2012, used Sigumir, the extract, not Cartalax. A 2023 Russian review says oral Cartalax helped older patients with osteoarthritis; those studies are not indexed anywhere.

Status. Not approved anywhere; supplement in Russia; caught by WADA's S0 rule.

Where the evidence is thinnest. Injection. No study has injected Cartalax into any animal or person, which is the only way it is sold outside Russia.

Editorial synthesis Written from general pharmacology, the development record and what is commonly reported; not a cited finding. Cited findings on this page carry their own tier.

How Cartalax is thought to work: a tripeptide, DNA and cartilage genes

Written from general pharmacology and the development record, and marked as editorial synthesis; the measurements behind it are quoted in the biomarker section.

  • Cartalax is the tripeptide alanine-glutamate-aspartate (Ala-Glu-Asp, AED; T-31 in the group's older papers). Vladimir Khavinson's institute in St Petersburg designed it in the 2000s from the amino-acid composition of Sigumir, a polypeptide extract of young animals' cartilage and bone, on the same principle that gave Epitalon from the pineal extract and Pinealon from a brain extract. The claim is tissue-specific gene regulation: the short peptide enters cells and the nucleus and binds DNA or histones in cartilage-relevant genes.Editorial synthesis
    Editorial synthesis from general knowledge
  • What the papers show is broader and vaguer than cartilage. In culture, AED reduced apoptosis and MMP-9 and raised proliferation markers in skin fibroblasts, raised sirtuin-1, sirtuin-6 and collagen I, raised IGF1 expression in mesenchymal stem cells, and contributed to neuronal differentiation markers in dental-ligament stem cells; a docking model has it binding an 'acct' DNA motif. In kidney tissue cultures it stimulated renewal, less than the parent extract did. None of these is a cartilage cell, and the one whole-animal study measured bone, not cartilage, in ovariectomised rats, where again the extract outperformed the peptide.Editorial synthesis
    Editorial synthesis from general knowledge
  • What is not known: whether AED reaches cartilage after oral or injected dosing, whether it survives digestion or plasma peptidases, what concentration reaches any tissue, and whether any of the cell effects occur in a joint. The developers' 2022 and 2023 transport reviews argue that di- and tripeptides can enter cells through PEPT and LAT carriers; that is a modelling argument, not a pharmacokinetic measurement.Editorial synthesis
    Editorial synthesis from general knowledge

Four names, one molecule: what the literature says under each

The evidence for Cartalax is scattered across the names the developer's group has used for it, and one of those names belongs to a different substance.

Every indexed paper in the ledger, by the name it uses.
Name usedWhat it refers toPapersWhat they found
Cartalax / KartalaksThe product name for the tripeptide2023 Russian review; 2022 transport review; 2021 systematic reviewReview statements: efficacy in OA animal models and oral use in older OA patients (unindexed studies); transport into cells by PEPT and LAT carriers (modelling)
AED / Ala-Glu-AspThe sequence, in the group's cell papersSkin fibroblasts 2016 and 2020; mesenchymal stem cells 2020; dental-ligament stem cells 2019; docking 2016; differentiation review 2020Less apoptosis and MMP-9; more Ki-67, sirtuins, collagen I; IGF1 expression up; neuronal-differentiation markers; binds an 'acct' DNA motif in a model
T-31The group's older code for the same tripeptideRat bone 2007; kidney tissue culture 2015Bone density preserved and restored in ovariectomised rats, less than the extract; kidney-cell renewal stimulated, less than the extract
SigumirA different substance: the cartilage-and-bone polypeptide extract the tripeptide was modelled on62 elderly TMJ patients 2012; the 2007 rat study's comparatorPain relief and jaw function within a combined treatment programme (uncontrolled); stronger bone effect than T-31 in rats

Two things follow. Every human sentence in this record is about the extract or about unindexed studies, and in both direct comparisons, rat bone and kidney culture, the extract outperformed the peptide designed to replace it.

Editorial synthesis Written from general pharmacology, the development record and what is commonly reported; not a cited finding. Cited findings on this page carry their own tier.

What happened in the human studies?

This record's ledger holds 2 primary human studies. Few enough to show in full: each card quotes what its abstract reported about Cartalax. Read them before any other section on this page.

  • Human study (Sigumir not Cartalax), humans 2012 Observational, human
    It is shown that application of a complex of treatment-and-prophylactic actions, including rational tooth prosthetics, functional and pharmacotherapy (including accompanying diseases), and also use a peptide bioregulator of cartilaginous and bone tissues "Sigumir" in complex therapy of patients with diseases of a temporomandibular joint of a various etiology, enables to stop in short-terms a painful syndrome in such patients, to increase amplitude of opening of a mouth, to improve chewing function, to reduce terms of treatment and to provide preventive maintenance of relapses of TMJ's pathology during all period of supervision.
    Source pmid-22708467 · quoted verbatim from the abstract
  • Narrative review (Russian) humans 2023 Observational, human
    Sigumir, a polypeptide complex of cartilage and bone tissues of young animals, and the AED tripeptide (Kartalax) have shown high efficacy in animal models of OA and oral administration in patients with OA of older age groups.
    Source pmid-37782637 · quoted verbatim from the abstract

What did the studies find?

Results in cultured cells and in one rat study, all from the developer's group, plus a Russian review's statement that the oral form helped older patients with osteoarthritis, which rests on studies not indexed anywhere. No controlled human study of Cartalax exists. One row per primary study in this record's ledger. Fields are read from each paper's indexing and abstract. "Analytical method" marks papers about detecting or measuring the compound rather than about its effects.

9 primary studies in this record's ledger, strongest evidence first. A dash means the abstract did not state the value.
StudyDesignnSpeciesDoseRouteDurationReported outcomeTier
Iordanishvili 2012 Human study (Sigumir, not Cartalax) 62 Humans——— It is shown that application of a complex of treatment-and-prophylactic actions, including rational tooth prosthetics, functional and pharmacotherapy (including accompanying diseases), and also use a peptide bioregulator of cartilaginous and bone tissues "Sigumir" in complex therapy of patients with diseases of a temporomandibular joint of a various etiology, enables to stop in short-terms a painful syndrome in such patients, to increase amplitude of opening of a mouth, to improve chewing function, to reduce terms of treatment and to provide preventive maintenance of relapses of TMJ's pathology during all period of supervision. Observational, human
Myakisheva 2023 Narrative review (Russian) — Humans—oral (as stated for patients)— Sigumir, a polypeptide complex of cartilage and bone tissues of young animals, and the AED tripeptide (Kartalax) have shown high efficacy in animal models of OA and oral administration in patients with OA of older age groups. Observational, human
Povorozniuk 2007 Animal study — Rats——— The study has revealed an osteoprotective effect of both studied substances, with significantly higher efficacy of the preparation based on cartilaginous tissue extract. Animal, preclinical
Chalisova 2015 In vitro study — Rat kidney tissue cultures—culture medium— Short peptides T-31 (AED) and T-35 (EDL) also stimulate proliferation and reduce apoptosis of the kidney cells, but to a lesser degree than the polypeptide complex. Mechanistic, in vitro
Lin'kova 2016 In vitro study — Human skin fibroblasts—culture medium— Peptides AED and AEDG suppressed caspase-dependent apoptosis that increases during aging of cell cultures. Mechanistic, in vitro
Fridman 2020 In vitro study — Human skin fibroblasts—culture medium— AED peptide activates the synthesis of sirtuin-1, sirtuin-6, and collagen I in human skin fibroblasts during their replicative aging, which attests to its geroprotective effect. Mechanistic, in vitro
Ashapkin 2020 In vitro study — Human embryonic mesenchymal stem cells—culture medium— IGF1 gene expression levels were very similar in both cell culture aging models, being enhanced by 3.5-5.6 fold upon the addition of the peptides. Mechanistic, in vitro
Caputi 2019 In vitro study — Human periodontal ligament stem cells—culture medium— Growth-Associated Protein 43 (GAP43), which implements neurotransmission mechanisms and neuroplasticity, demonstrated an increased expression in hPDLSCs cultured with a compound of all studied peptides and with KED alone. Mechanistic, in vitro
Khavinson 2016 Molecular modelling — In siliconot applicablenot applicablenot applicable Peptides KE and EDP bind agat sequence, peptides KEDW and AED to acct sequence, and peptides AEDL and EDL to ctcc sequence. Mechanistic, in vitro

Every Cartalax concentration and dose in the literature, in one table

No study states an injected dose in any species. The table holds what the studies actually used.

Concentrations and doses of AED (Cartalax) and Sigumir in the ledger.
StudySubstance and systemAmountExposureWhat was measured
Povorozniuk 2007T-31 (AED) and cartilage extract; ovariectomised ratsNot stated in the abstractNot statedBone mineral density; both protective, extract more so
Chalisova 2015T-31 (AED) and T-35; rat kidney tissue culturesCulture concentration, not stated in the abstractCultureKi-67 up, p53 down; less than the kidney extract
Lin'kova 2016; Fridman 2020AED; human skin fibroblastsCulture concentration, not stated in the abstractsReplicative ageing in cultureApoptosis and MMP-9 down; Ki-67, CD98hc, sirtuins, collagen I up
Ashapkin 2020AED, KED, KE; human mesenchymal stem cellsCulture concentration, not stated in the abstractAgeing culturesIGF1 expression up 3.5 to 5.6-fold
Caputi 2019AED with KED, KE, AEDG; dental-ligament stem cellsCulture concentration, not stated in the abstractCultureNeuronal-differentiation markers
Iordanishvili 2012Sigumir; 62 elderly patientsNot stated in the abstractCourse within combined treatmentJaw pain and function
Myakisheva 2023 (review)AED, oral; older OA patientsNot statedNot statedEfficacy asserted; source studies unindexed

Figures for this compound circulate on forums and vendor pages. None has been tested in a human study, so none is reproduced here; the table holds every concentration and dose a study actually used. A ranking dosing guide asks whether Cartalax is 'dosed at 10 mg for 20 days'; the literature contains no injected dose of any size for any duration.

Editorial synthesis Written from general pharmacology, the development record and what is commonly reported; not a cited finding. Cited findings on this page carry their own tier.

Side effects: nothing recorded, in any species

No study has recorded adverse events for Cartalax in any species. What follows is what is known about the peptide's actions and what is not. Events and their frequency as each study reported them, with the denominator where the abstract gives one.

  • No study of Cartalax in any species recorded adverse events, because no study has given it to a living animal or person by injection and the one rat study measured bone. The 2012 Sigumir study and the 2023 review speak of the extract's tolerability in passing. Forum complaints are limited to injection-site reactions. A tripeptide of three common amino acids is unlikely to be toxic in itself; what a research-chemical vial contains is a separate matter no study addresses.Editorial synthesis
    Editorial synthesis from general knowledge

Who Cartalax is discussed for, and the cautions that recur

Studied: cultured cells, and ovariectomised rats for bone. Studied with the extract: elderly Russian patients with jaw-joint disease. Community: people with joint pain, athletes recovering from cartilage or tendon injury, and bioregulator enthusiasts cycling the Khavinson set.

No human study of the peptide exists, so the cautions come from what is missing rather than what was found:

  • The injectable form is untested. Not one study, in any species, has injected Cartalax. Everything about absorption, distribution and effect by that route is assumption.
  • Vial contents. A tripeptide of three ordinary amino acids is cheap to make and impossible for a buyer to verify; the peptide's own literature says nothing about product quality.
  • Growth signalling. In culture it raised IGF1 expression and proliferation markers. That is the intended effect and also the reason to be cautious with any history of cancer, a caution no study has examined.
  • Expecting cartilage repair. No study measured cartilage in a living animal or a person. The rat study measured bone, and the extract did better.
  • Pregnancy, children, interactions. No data of any kind.
  • Tested athletes. Unapproved substances are prohibited under WADA S0 at all times.

Editorial synthesis Written from general pharmacology, the development record and what is commonly reported; not a cited finding. Cited findings on this page carry their own tier.

Biomarkers measured in studies

Laboratory and clinical measures the studies report tracking, including which hormones did and did not change.

  • Skin fibroblasts: sirtuin-1, sirtuin-6 and collagen I synthesis rose with AED during replicative ageing.Mechanistic, in vitro
    Source pmid-33231794
  • Skin fibroblasts: MMP-9 fell and Ki-67 and CD98hc rose with the short peptides; AED and AEDG suppressed caspase-dependent apoptosis.Mechanistic, in vitro
    Source pmid-27259496
  • Mesenchymal stem cells: IGF1 expression rose 3.5- to 5.6-fold with the peptides.Mechanistic, in vitro
    Source pmid-32399807
  • Ovariectomised rats: bone mineral density was preserved and restored by T-31 and, more strongly, by the cartilage extract.Animal, preclinical
    Source pmid-18306703

What is measured over time, and what is not

The literature has almost no time axis. Cell studies measured markers after culture periods the abstracts do not state; the rat study reports an outcome after ovariectomy without a stated duration; the Sigumir study speaks of pain relief 'in short terms' within a combined programme and relapse prevention 'during all period of supervision', unquantified. No study of Cartalax in a person exists, so nothing is known about onset, duration or what happens when a course stops. 'How long does it take to work' has no answer in the literature, and the ten-to-twenty-day courses that circulate are the Khavinson range's standard schedule, not a measured result.

Editorial synthesis Written from general pharmacology, the development record and what is commonly reported; not a cited finding. Cited findings on this page carry their own tier.

Routes: what the studies used, and what people buy

Culture medium in most studies; unstated route in the rat study; oral capsules in the Russian patient reports the review cites. No study has injected Cartalax into any animal or person, which is the only way it is sold outside Russia. Routes of administration named in each study.

  • The 2023 review states the AED tripeptide was given orally to older patients with osteoarthritis; the underlying studies are not indexed.Observational, human
    Source pmid-37782637

What people report outside the literature

Forum reports describe joint comfort, no effect, or uncertainty about vial contents. None comes from a study; the injectable form has no study at all. What circulates in user communities and clinic marketing, reported so a reader knows the figures and their origin. None of it has been tested in a trial, and none of it is a suggestion.

  • Cartalax circulates for joint pain, cartilage repair and recovery from joint injury, injected subcutaneously from 10 or 20 mg vials in courses of ten to twenty days, often stacked with BPC-157, TB-500 or GHK-Cu, and in Russia taken as oral capsules (Kartalaks). Reports describe less joint discomfort, no effect, and doubt about whether the vial contains the peptide; the bioregulator community treats it as one of a set to be cycled. None of this comes from a study. Figures for this compound circulate on forums and vendor pages. None has been tested in a human study, so none is reproduced here; the table above holds every concentration and dose a study actually used.Editorial synthesis
    Editorial synthesis from general knowledge
Method note · shared across compounds

Reconstitution mathematics

Lyophilised peptide is supplied as a mass in a vial and dissolved in a stated volume of diluent. Two figures follow from that and nothing else:

  • Concentration = mass in vial ÷ diluent volume. A 5 mg vial in 2 mL is 2.5 mg/mL, or 2,500 mcg/mL.
  • Volume for a given mass = that mass ÷ concentration. 250 mcg at 2,500 mcg/mL is 0.1 mL. On a U-100 insulin syringe, where 1 mL is 100 units, that is 10 units.

Study doses on this page are quoted as published, in the units the authors used. Converting between mcg, mg and IU, or between a mass and a syringe volume, is arithmetic; deciding a mass is not, and this page does not do it. The reconstitution calculator performs the conversion with the formula shown.

Method note · shared across compounds

Reading a certificate of analysis

A certificate of analysis is a laboratory report on one batch. Reading it means checking four things in order.

  1. Identity. Mass spectrometry should report an observed molecular mass matching the peptide's theoretical mass within the instrument's stated tolerance. A certificate with no mass spectrometry, or one that lists only the expected value, has not confirmed identity.
  2. Purity. HPLC purity is the area of the main peak as a share of all peaks, at a stated wavelength. It says nothing about what the other peaks are, and it is not a measure of quantity.
  3. Quantity. Net peptide content, by amino acid analysis or UV, is the fraction of the vial's mass that is peptide rather than counter-ions and water. A 5 mg vial at 80% net content holds 4 mg of peptide, and every concentration figure above changes accordingly.
  4. Provenance. The batch number on the certificate should match the vial, the laboratory should be named and independent of the seller, and the test date should be recent.

This page rates no supplier and links to none. It describes how to read the document.

Method note · shared across compounds

Equipment described in studies

Published human studies of injectable peptides report the same small set of materials: single-use insulin syringes with fixed needles, most often U-100 with 29 to 31 gauge needles; bacteriostatic water or sterile water for injection as diluent, with the choice stated in the methods; alcohol swabs; and refrigerated storage of reconstituted solution. Animal studies more often report intraperitoneal or intragastric administration and state the vehicle used. Where a study in this record's ledger names its materials or vehicle, that sentence appears under storage or routes above; where it does not, nothing is assumed here.

Storage and handling

No storage or stability study of Cartalax is indexed. Vendor sheets follow general practice for lyophilised peptides. A tripeptide is chemically simple and stable as a powder; its stability in solution and in a vial of unknown origin is unmeasured.

Editorial synthesis Written from general pharmacology, the development record and what is commonly reported; not a cited finding. Cited findings on this page carry their own tier.

Common mistakes in how Cartalax is discussed

  1. Counting the Sigumir study as Cartalax evidence. Sigumir is the extract; Cartalax is the tripeptide modelled on it. The only indexed human study is of the extract.
  2. Treating cell markers as joint outcomes. Sirtuins and collagen I in skin fibroblasts are not cartilage in a knee. No study has measured cartilage in a living animal.
  3. Quoting an injected dose. There is none, in any species. The 10 and 20 mg figures are vendor conventions.
  4. Assuming independent replication. Every paper is from Khavinson's institute or its collaborators; none has been replicated elsewhere.
  5. Missing the comparison the developers ran. In rats and in kidney cultures, the extract beat the peptide. The peptide's advantage is that it is definable and synthetic, not that it works better.
  6. Searching one name. A search for 'Cartalax' finds two papers. The evidence is under AED, Ala-Glu-Asp and T-31, and a reader who does not know that concludes there is none.

Editorial synthesis Written from general pharmacology, the development record and what is commonly reported; not a cited finding. Cited findings on this page carry their own tier.

Cartalax vs Sigumir, BPC-157, TB-500, GHK-Cu and its sibling peptides

Cartalax beside the substances it is confused with or stacked with, from their own records where one exists.
CompoundWhat it isHuman evidenceStatus
Cartalax (AED)Khavinson tripeptide modelled on a cartilage extractNone under its own name; unindexed Russian oral reportsSupplement in Russia; research chemical elsewhere
SigumirCartilage-and-bone polypeptide extract of young animalsOne uncontrolled study of 62 elderly TMJ patientsSupplement in Russia; no record on this site
BPC-157Gastric pentadecapeptide fragment; 228 indexed publications2 human studies in its ledger, small and uncontrolledNot approved; WADA S0
TB-500Thymosin beta-4 fragment; 1257 indexed publications14 human studies in its ledgerNot approved; WADA S2
GHK-CuCopper tripeptide; 169 indexed publications9 human studies in its ledger, mostly topicalCosmetic ingredient; not approved as a drug
Pinealon and EpitalonSibling Khavinson peptides from pineal and brain extracts; 17 and 170 indexed publications2 and 9 human studies in their ledgers, Russian, non-randomizedSupplements in Russia; research chemicals elsewhere

Of everything Cartalax is stacked with, only BPC-157 has been discussed in a Western clinical review, and even that rests on a single uncontrolled series. The sibling comparison is the fair one: Cartalax has less evidence than Pinealon or Epitalon, and the same structure of it, a Russian extract with human reports and a synthetic peptide without.

Editorial synthesis Written from general pharmacology, the development record and what is commonly reported; not a cited finding. Cited findings on this page carry their own tier.

Other compounds in its class

Same class in the registry: Epitalon, Pinealon. Each row shows what that compound's own record states; nothing is inferred across rows.

3 compounds in the bioregulator short peptides class. Each row states what that compound's own record says; nothing is inferred across rows.
CompoundTierPublicationsRCTsRecord
Cartalax Animal, preclinical 12 0 draft
Epitalon Human clinical trial 170 5 draft
Pinealon Human clinical trial 17 0 draft

Regulatory status

Registry facts only. Jurisdiction-level status, compounding categories and sport prohibitions need their own cited documents before they appear here.

  • Not approved as a medicine anywhere. In Russia the oral form is sold as a dietary supplement within the Khavinson bioregulator range; the parent extract Sigumir is marketed there in the same category. Outside Russia it is sold as a research chemical for injection. Not named on the WADA Prohibited List, but as an unapproved substance it falls under S0 at all times. Its position on FDA's 503A compounding lists should be checked against the live lists; it is not known to have been nominated.Editorial synthesis
    Editorial synthesis from general knowledge · primary document to be added to the ledger

Open questions and limitations

What is genuinely unknown, stated plainly. A missing field is not evidence that the outcome is safe, effective, or established.

  • No study has injected Cartalax into any animal or person; the only route with any human report is oral, in unindexed Russian studies.
  • The Russian osteoarthritis studies cited by the 2023 review are not indexed and could not be located.
  • The one indexed human study in the ledger is of Sigumir, the extract, and is kept as the extract's evidence, not the peptide's.

Questions people ask

What is Cartalax?

Cartalax is the tripeptide alanine-glutamate-aspartate (Ala-Glu-Asp, written AED and, in older Russian papers, T-31), designed by Vladimir Khavinson's group in St Petersburg from the composition of Sigumir, an extract of young animals' cartilage and bone. In Russia it is sold as an oral supplement for joints; elsewhere it is sold as an injectable research chemical. Its literature is a dozen papers, almost all in cell cultures, from the developer's group.

What is Sigumir, and is it the same as Cartalax?

Sigumir is a polypeptide complex extracted from the cartilage and bone of young animals, marketed in Russia as a peptide bioregulator; Cartalax is the single synthetic tripeptide AED designed from its composition. The one indexed human study in this record, 62 elderly patients with jaw-joint disease in 2012, used Sigumir, not Cartalax. The two are as different as an extract and a molecule.

What is Cartalax used for?

In the literature, as a laboratory tool: it has been added to cultures of kidney cells, skin fibroblasts, stem cells and neurons to study proliferation, apoptosis and gene expression, and given to ovariectomised rats to study bone density. A 2023 Russian review says the oral form has been given to older patients with osteoarthritis; those studies are not indexed. Outside the literature it circulates for joint pain and cartilage repair, untested.

Is Cartalax legit?

The molecule is real and its cell studies are real, published in peer-reviewed journals by the group that designed it. What is not real is any human evidence for the injectable product: no controlled study of Cartalax in people exists under any of its names, no study has injected it into anything, and the Russian patient reports are unindexed. Whether a given vial contains Ala-Glu-Asp is a separate question no study answers.

Has Cartalax been tested in humans?

Not in any indexed study under any of its names. The one indexed human study in this record, 62 elderly patients with jaw-joint disease in 2012, used Sigumir, the cartilage extract Cartalax was modelled on. A 2023 Russian review states the oral peptide helped older patients with osteoarthritis, citing studies that are not indexed anywhere this record can reach.

Is there a Cartalax dose?

No. No study states a dose of Cartalax given to a person or injected into any animal; the rat bone study's abstract omits the dose and the cell studies used culture concentrations they do not state. The 10 mg and 20 mg figures on vendor pages, and the ten-to-twenty-day courses, come from the Khavinson range's conventions, not from a study.

What does Cartalax do in cells?

In the developer's studies, AED reduced apoptosis and the matrix-degrading enzyme MMP-9 in ageing skin fibroblasts, raised the proliferation marker Ki-67 and the sirtuins 1 and 6 and collagen I, raised IGF1 expression 3.5- to 5.6-fold in mesenchymal stem cells, and contributed to neuronal-differentiation markers in dental-ligament stem cells. None of these cells is a chondrocyte.

Does Cartalax repair cartilage?

No study has measured cartilage in a living animal or a person. The one whole-animal study measured bone mineral density in ovariectomised rats, where T-31 (AED) was protective and the parent extract more so. The 2023 review's statement about efficacy in osteoarthritis models and patients rests on studies that are not indexed.

Is Cartalax the same as Sigumir?

No. Sigumir is a polypeptide extract of young animals' cartilage and bone, sold in Russia; Cartalax is the single tripeptide Ala-Glu-Asp designed from its amino-acid composition. In both direct comparisons in the literature, rats and kidney cultures, the extract worked better than the peptide.

What are the side effects of Cartalax?

Unrecorded. No study has given Cartalax to a living animal by injection or to a person under observation, so there is no adverse-event data at all. Forum complaints are limited to injection-site reactions. A tripeptide of three common amino acids is unlikely to be toxic in itself; what a research-chemical vial actually contains is another question.

Is Cartalax FDA approved?

No. It has no approval anywhere and no development programme. In Russia it is sold as a dietary supplement; elsewhere as a research chemical. Its position on FDA's compounding lists should be checked; it is not known to have been nominated.

Is Cartalax banned in sport?

It is not named on the WADA Prohibited List, but as a substance with no regulatory approval it falls under the list's S0 category, prohibited at all times.

Can Cartalax be taken orally?

In Russia it is sold as oral capsules (Kartalaks), and the 2023 review speaks of oral administration to patients. Whether a tripeptide taken by mouth survives digestion and reaches a joint has not been measured; the developer's transport reviews argue it can enter cells through peptide carriers, which is a model, not a measurement.

Why does a search for Cartalax find almost nothing?

Because the developer's group publishes under the sequence, AED or Ala-Glu-Asp, and in older papers under the code T-31. A name search finds two reviews; the sequence names find the cell and rat papers. This record was assembled by hand from all four names because the short aliases are too ambiguous for automated search.

Who developed Cartalax?

Vladimir Khavinson's St Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, as one of a family of short peptides each designed from the amino-acid composition of an organ extract: Epitalon from the pineal gland, Pinealon from the brain, Cartalax from cartilage and bone. Every paper in the ledger is from that group or its collaborators.

Which species has Cartalax been studied in?

Rats, once, for bone density; and cells: rat kidney tissue, human skin fibroblasts, human mesenchymal and dental-ligament stem cells. No cartilage cell, no joint, no living animal by injection, and no human under any name.

Sources

Full citations. Every claim above links to one of these by its id.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
    Short Peptides Regulate Gene Expression.
    pmid-27909961 · · peer-reviewed
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
    Peptide Regulation of Cell Differentiation.
    pmid-31808038 · · peer-reviewed
  11. 11
  12. 12
    Peptide Regulation of Gene Expression: A Systematic Review.
    pmid-34834147 · · peer-reviewed

Reference card

Reference card · generated /compounds/cartalax
Compound
Cartalax, bioregulator short peptides
Evidence tier
Animal, preclinical
Indexed publications
12 · 0 RCTs · 0 other clinical trials
Approval
no registered development programme found
Routes reported
culture medium, not applicable, oral (as stated for patients)
Reviewed
Adam Mirando, PharmD,

Study figures are as published in each source and are not recommendations. Print or save this card with its date.

Last reviewed and what changed

Newest first. These are the record's own revision dates, and the same dates feed the sitemap.

  1. · Reviewed by Adam Mirando, PharmD, on 2026-09-25.
  2. · Stage 0 redone by hand: the registry had no aliases and the fetcher found 0 papers; a refetch with the sequence aliases returned 66 mostly false-positive sources and was reverted; the ledger was curated to the twelve indexed papers naming the tripeptide (AED, Ala-Glu-Asp, T-31) or the product, with nine evidence rows written from their abstracts. Tier set to animal-preclinical. Written under the sequencing rule after research/intents/cartalax.json: guide (8 sections incl. a four-names table), FAQ to 12 plus 5 from the map, mechanism, reported-use, regulatory and biomarker claims; intent-driven H1 and title.
  3. · Claims drafted extractively from 0 ledger sources by scripts/draft_claims.py: 0 claims, 0 evidence-table rows. Status researched -> draft.
  4. · Claims drafted extractively from 0 ledger sources by scripts/draft_claims.py: 0 claims, 0 evidence-table rows. Status researched -> draft.
  5. · Claims drafted extractively from 0 ledger sources by scripts/draft_claims.py: 0 claims, 0 evidence-table rows. Status researched -> draft.
  6. · Claims drafted extractively from 0 ledger sources by scripts/draft_claims.py: 0 claims, 0 evidence-table rows. Status researched -> draft.
  7. · Evidence fetched from Europe PMC and ChEMBL by scripts/fetch_evidence.py; claims not yet written.