Dashnaiv Peptides
Compounds·bioregulator short peptides·telomerase activation claimed; mechanism unconfirmed

Epitalon (Epithalon) peptide: what the mouse, cell and Russian extract studies show, and what has never been tested in people

What 170 indexed publications and 5 randomized trials actually state about epitalon, sentence by sentence, each tied to its source and labeled by the kind of evidence it is.

Human clinical trial Reviewed 33 sources Updated

At a glance

Evidence availability
Human clinical evidence
Strongest tier in the indexed literature
Indexed publications
170
Europe PMC, title or abstract, 2026-09-14
Human studies in ledger
4
1 randomized; study count, not efficacy proof
Approval
none found
no registered development programme
Routes reported
intramuscular, intranasal, intraperitoneal, oral, subcutaneous
from studies in this ledger
Studied in
Humans, Mice, Rats
24 primary studies in the evidence table
Reviewed by Adam Mirando, PharmD, on . What changed

What Epitalon is, and how it differs from Epithalamin

Epitalon is a peptide in the bioregulator short peptides class (telomerase activation claimed; mechanism unconfirmed). Europe PMC indexes 170 publications naming it or a listed alias in a title or abstract, including 5 randomized controlled trials and 5 clinical trials of any design, as of . The strongest evidence tier in that literature is human clinical trials.

This page reports what those studies state, sentence by sentence, with each statement tied to its source and labeled by the kind of evidence it is. It does not recommend use, and it does not translate study doses into anything personal.

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 ledger41 randomized · 3 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.

Epitalon in two minutes

What it is. A synthetic four-amino-acid peptide, Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly, designed in St Petersburg from the composition of Epithalamin, a bovine pineal extract used as a Soviet medicine. Also spelled Epithalon.

What the research actually shows. 170 indexed publications. In cells it lengthens telomeres, in normal cells through telomerase and in breast-cancer cells through the ALT pathway. In 54 mice injected monthly for life, mean lifespan did not change, total tumours did not change, the longest-lived 10% lived 13% longer and leukaemia was six times rarer. Every human result in the ledger is for the extract Epithalamin or a related complex, not the synthetic peptide.

The confusion at the centre. Pages that cite 'human studies of Epitalon' are citing Epithalamin: a cervical-cancer trial where it was one of five treatments, a coronary-disease rhythm study, and melatonin restoration in elderly people.

Status. Not approved anywhere; reported to be on FDA's 2023 compounding category 2 list; caught by WADA's S0 rule.

Where the evidence is thinnest. In people: no study has given synthetic Epitalon at a stated dose, measured a telomere, or recorded a side effect.

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 Epitalon is thought to work: telomerase, histones and the pineal gland

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

  • Epitalon is the tetrapeptide alanine-glutamate-aspartate-glycine (AEDG). Khavinson's group in St Petersburg designed it in the 1990s from the amino-acid composition of Epithalamin, a polypeptide extract of bovine pineal gland that had been used as a medicine in the Soviet Union since the 1980s. The two are not the same substance: Epithalamin is a mixture of pineal peptides given by injection at milligram doses; Epitalon is one synthetic molecule given to animals at micrograms. Most of the human literature cited for Epitalon is about Epithalamin.Editorial synthesis
    Editorial synthesis from general knowledge
  • Three mechanisms are proposed. First, telomerase: a 2003 report from the developers found Epitalon induced telomerase activity and telomere elongation in human fibroblast cultures, and a 2025 independent study confirmed telomere lengthening in normal cells through hTERT upregulation, while finding that in breast-cancer lines the lengthening ran through the ALT pathway instead. Second, the pineal gland and melatonin: in rats, intranasal Epitalon changed pinealocyte activity only under stress, and the extract restored night-time melatonin in elderly people. Third, gene regulation: molecular modelling suggests the peptide binds histone H1 at DNA-contacting sites, and it changes gene expression in cells from thymus to tobacco plants, which argues for a broad, not specific, effect.Editorial synthesis
    Editorial synthesis from general knowledge
  • What is not established is any of this in a living person. No human study has measured telomere length, telomerase activity, or melatonin after synthetic Epitalon. The lifelong mouse study, the strongest whole-animal evidence, found no change in mean lifespan and a 12 to 13% gain at the tail of the survival curve, alongside fewer chromosome aberrations and less leukaemia.Editorial synthesis
    Editorial synthesis from general knowledge

Epitalon vs Epithalamin: which studies are about which

The two names are used interchangeably online. They are different substances with different evidence, and sorting the studies by name changes the picture.

Human and animal studies in the ledger, sorted by the substance actually given.
SubstanceWhat it isHuman studiesAnimal and cell studies
EpithalaminPolypeptide extract of bovine pineal gland; a registered Soviet and Russian medicine given by injection at milligram dosesCervical cancer (100 patients, randomized, 100 mg IM as one of five components); elderly coronary patients (6 courses, 30 months, immune and cortisol rhythms); free-radical review; melatonin restoration in the elderly (cited, not in ledger)Hypoxia in rats (2.5 mg intraperitoneal); free radicals in aged rats
Epitalon (AEDG)Single synthetic tetrapeptide modelled on the extract's amino-acid compositionNone at a stated dose. One in vitro study used cultured cells from tuberculosis patientsLifelong mouse study; senescence-accelerated mice; rat colon cancer; rat cortex and pineal (intranasal); rat intestine (oral); thymocytes; telomeres in human cell lines; oocytes; retinal cells; gingival stem cells; tobacco plants
PineaminA newer pineal polypeptide complex55 elderly patients: night melatonin metabolite up 1.9-fold after a 100 mg course—

The practical consequence: the dosing, the ten-day courses and the melatonin claim belong to the extract. The telomere and lifespan claims belong to the peptide, in cells and mice. Nothing belongs to both.

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 4 primary human studies, of which 1 is a trial. Few enough to show in full: each card quotes what its abstract reported about Epitalon. Read them before any other section on this page.

  • Randomized controlled trial humans n = 100 1999 Human clinical trial
    As a consequence, short-term results improved by 18.8% in cases tumor size under T3; end-results--by 14%.
    Source pmid-10532103 · quoted verbatim from the abstract
  • Human study humans 2020 Observational, human
    Issues related to the immunopharmacological effect and clinical use of natural and synthetic peptide thymomimetics (thymalin, thymogen, vilon, epithalamin, cortexin) and peptide bioregulators from cartilaginous (sigumir, chondrolux) and other tissues in case of trauma, as well as inflammatory, inflammatory and other pathological processes of tissues of the oral cavity and maxillofacial region.
    Source pmid-32362097 · quoted verbatim from the abstract
  • Human study humans 2017 Observational, human
    Similar effect was obtained early for medical drug Epithalamin.
    Source pmid-28849889 · quoted verbatim from the abstract
  • Human study humans 2007 Observational, human
    On the other hand, the rhythms of changes in the thymic serum factor and hydrocortisone were retained in patients with chronic coronary disease after 6 courses of epithalamin by the optimal protocol (period of observation 30 months) and blood T cell count increased in the fall.
    Source pmid-18214303 · quoted verbatim from the abstract

What did the studies find?

Outcomes in mice, rats and cell cultures, plus a handful of Russian human studies of the parent extract Epithalamin. No randomized trial of Epitalon itself in people exists, and no human study has measured telomere length. 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.

24 primary studies in this record's ledger, strongest evidence first. A dash means the abstract did not state the value.
StudyDesignnSpeciesDoseRouteDurationReported outcomeTier
Vishnevskaia 1999 Randomized controlled trial 100 Humans100 mgintramuscular3 year As a consequence, short-term results improved by 18.8% in cases tumor size under T3; end-results--by 14%. Human clinical trial
Pinelis 2020 Human study — Humans—oral— — Observational, human
Trofimova 2017 Human study — Humans——— — Observational, human
Labunets 2007 Human study — Humans——— On the other hand, the rhythms of changes in the thymic serum factor and hydrocortisone were retained in patients with chronic coronary disease after 6 courses of epithalamin by the optimal protocol (period of… Observational, human
Zhang 2026 Animal study — Mice——— Of these, LCP2 expression was significantly reduced in the plasma of R/R NKTCL patients and in chemoresistant cells, correlating inversely with senescence marker SA-β-gal. Animal, preclinical
Yue 2022 Animal study — Mice——— We found that 0.1mM Epitalon reduced intracellular reactive oxygen species. Animal, preclinical
Kozina 2008 Animal study — Rats——— They also elevate the stationary level of intracellular reactive oxygen species and at the same time decrease (all excepting epitalon) percent of dead cells in neuronal population. Animal, preclinical
Il'ina 2008 Animal study — Rats——— The maximal number of significant changes in antioxidant system parameters was found under continuous light exposure. Animal, preclinical
Sibarov 2007 Animal study — Rats—intranasal— At least the first peak of increased neuron activity following exposure to epitalon was found to be associated with the direct action of the peptide on cortical cells. Animal, preclinical
Anisimov 2005 Animal study — Mice—subcutaneous— The mean life span of the 10% of the last survivors among treated SAMP-1 was shorter than that of SAMR-1, aging rate increased and mortality doubling time decreased. Animal, preclinical
Kossoy 2003 Animal study — Rats——6 months; 5 weeks Mitotic activity of tumor cells was significantly inhibited by Epitalon when the treatment was given throughout the experiment (group 2). Animal, preclinical
Anisimov 2003 Animal study 54 Mice—subcutaneous— We also found that treatment with Epitalon did not influence total spontaneous tumor incidence, but inhibited the development of leukemia (6.0-fold), as compared with the control group. Animal, preclinical
Sibarov 2002 Animal study — Rats—intranasal— The dilation of capillaries and pericapillary space induced by an osmotic stress was partially reduced by the intranasal infusions of Epitalon. Animal, preclinical
Khavinson 2002 Animal study — Mice——— The investigation demonstrated that Epitalon increased thymocyte proliferative activity, both enhanced under rotation stress and suppressed under combined one. Animal, preclinical
Khavinson 2002 Animal study — Rats—oral1 month Glycine absorption increased only in the proximal intestinal segment under the effect of Epithalon. Animal, preclinical
Khavinson 2001 Animal study — Rats——— — Animal, preclinical
Zamorskiĭ 2000 Animal study — Rats——— Administration of epithalamin caused an increase of pineal cGMP. Animal, preclinical
Zamors'kyĭ 1999 Animal study — Rats2.5 mgintraperitoneal— The melatonin and epithalamin administration against the background of acute hypoxia prevented an acute hypoxia inducing decrease in the activity of Na+, K(+)-ATPase as well as increased in the activity of… Animal, preclinical
Al-Dulaimi 2025 In vitro study — Humans——— Epitalon has been the subject of several anti-aging studies however, quantitative data on the biomolecular pathway leading to telomere length increase, hTERT mRNA expression, telomerase enzyme activity, and ALT… Mechanistic, in vitro
Gatta 2025 In vitro study — Humans——— These findings support using the antioxidant agent Epitalon as a promising therapeutic strategy for DR to improve retinal wound healing compromised by hyperglycemia. Mechanistic, in vitro
Avolio 2022 In vitro study — Humans——— Lastly, by incubating the THP1 cells, treated with the peptides, on a layer of activated endothelial cells (HUVECs activated by LPS), we observed a reduction in cell adhesion, a typical pro-inflammatory mechanism. Mechanistic, in vitro
Khavinson 2020 In vitro study — Humans——— AEDG peptide increased Nestin, GAP43, β Tubulin III and Doublecortin mRNA expression by 1.6-1.8 times in hGMSCs. Mechanistic, in vitro
Fedoreyeva 2017 In vitro study — ———— Exogenous short biologically active peptides epitalon (Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly), bronchogen (Ala-Glu-Asp-Leu), and vilon (Lys-Glu) at concentrations 10 -7 -10 -9 M significantly influence growth, development, and… Mechanistic, in vitro
Dzhokhadze 2013 In vitro study — Humans——— As for epithalon, it appears that was shown a pronounced protective effect after treatment, on the test of chromosome aberrations, by reducing both overall mean frequency aberrant cells and indicators for all… Mechanistic, in vitro

Doses reported in studies

Each entry is a sentence quoted from the study's abstract, with the study's design, sample size and year in front of it. Comparator doses in the same sentence are not attributed to epitalon.

  • Female SHR mice received 1 microgram of Epitalon (about 30 to 40 micrograms per kilogram) subcutaneously on five consecutive days each month from age three months until death.Animal, preclinical
    Source pmid-14501183
  • Senescence-accelerated mice received the same 1 microgram subcutaneous dose five times a week, monthly.Animal, preclinical
    Source pmid-15909815
  • Rats in a chemical colon-cancer model received 1 microgram five times a week for six months.Animal, preclinical
    Source pmid-12964022
  • Anaesthetised rats received 30 nanograms intranasally, after which cortical neuron firing rose within minutes.Animal, preclinical
    Source pmid-17955380
  • In the one randomized human trial in the ledger, the extract Epithalamin, not synthetic Epitalon, was given at 100 mg intramuscularly as one component of combined cervical-cancer treatment.Human clinical trial
    Source pmid-10532103
  • Mouse oocytes were cultured with 0.1 millimolar Epitalon.Mechanistic, in vitro
    Source pmid-35413689

Every Epitalon and Epithalamin dose in the literature, in one table

Every figure here was given to an animal, added to a culture, or is the extract in a Russian trial. No human dose of synthetic Epitalon exists.

Doses administered in studies of Epitalon and its parent extract.
StudySubstance and modelRoute and doseScheduleWhat was found
Anisimov 2003Epitalon; 54 female SHR miceSubcutaneous, 1 mcg per mouse (about 30 to 40 mcg/kg)5 consecutive days a month, from 3 months of age for lifeMean lifespan unchanged; last 10% lived 13.3% longer; chromosome aberrations down 17%; leukaemia 6-fold rarer; total tumours unchanged
Anisimov 2005Epitalon; senescence-accelerated miceSubcutaneous, 1 mcg per mouse5 times a week, monthlyPrevented irregular oestrous cycles; no effect on weight, food or temperature
Kossoy 2003Epitalon; rats with chemically induced colon cancerSubcutaneous, 1 mcg5 times a week for 6 months, or during initiation or promotion onlyTumour-cell mitotic activity inhibited
Sibarov 2007Epitalon; anaesthetised ratsIntranasal, 30 ng per ratSingleCortical neuron firing 2 to 2.5-fold within 5 to 7 minutes
Sibarov 2002Epitalon; stressed ratsIntranasal; dose not statedRepeated, last 2 hours before samplingC-Fos rose in pinealocytes under stress only
Khavinson 2002Epitalon; ratsOral; dose not statedOne monthGlycine absorption up in the proximal intestine
Vishnevskaia 1999Epithalamin; 100 women with advanced cervical cancerIntramuscular, 100 mg, with chemotherapy and radiotherapyCourse within combined treatmentCombined therapy improved outcomes; the extract's own contribution cannot be separated
Trofimova 2017Pineamin; 55 elderly patientsCourse dose 100 mgCourseNight melatonin metabolite 1.9-fold higher
Al-Dulaimi 2025; Yue 2022; Gatta 2025Epitalon; human cell lines, mouse oocytes, retinal cellsIn culture; 0.1 mM in oocytes; others dose-dependentHours to daysTelomere lengthening; less reactive oxygen; wound closure restored

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 dose a study actually administered. The mouse dose, scaled by body weight, is a fraction of a milligram for an adult; the courses that circulate are hundreds of times larger and were never given to any animal in a study.

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: what is known, and the telomerase question

No human study of Epitalon recorded adverse events. What exists is the lifelong mouse study, which its authors read as evidence of safety, and the theoretical concern that anything raising telomerase in cancer cells raises. Events and their frequency as each study reported them, with the denominator where the abstract gives one.

  • The lifelong mouse study found no effect on food intake, body weight or total tumour incidence, and its authors read that as evidence of safety with long-term dosing in mice.Animal, preclinical
    Source pmid-14501183
  • A 2025 cell study found Epitalon lengthened telomeres in breast-cancer lines through the alternative lengthening pathway, the mechanism cancers use to keep dividing.Mechanistic, in vitro
    Source pmid-40908429
  • No human study of synthetic Epitalon recorded adverse events, because no such study exists at a stated dose. The Russian trials of the extract Epithalamin report tolerability in passing. Forum complaints are limited to injection-site reactions and vivid dreams. The open safety question is not a side effect but the mechanism itself: an agent that raises telomerase or activates ALT in cells that already have cancer is doing what the cancer wants, and no study has looked for that in a person.Editorial synthesis
    Editorial synthesis from general knowledge

Who Epitalon is discussed for, and the cautions that recur

Studied: mice and rats, for lifespan, tumours and pineal function; human cells, for telomeres. Studied with the extract: elderly Russian patients with coronary disease or low melatonin, and women with advanced cervical cancer. Community: people seeking longevity, better sleep or 'telomere health'.

No human study of the peptide set exclusion criteria. The cautions below come from the mechanism and from what was never measured:

  • Cancer, present or past. Telomerase activation and, in breast-cancer cells, ALT activation are the two ways tumours escape the limit on cell division. The mouse study found fewer leukaemias; the cell study found cancer cells lengthening their telomeres. No human data resolve this.
  • Anyone reading the extract's trials as their own evidence. Epithalamin's human studies were in specific elderly and oncology populations, at milligram doses of a mixture, in Russia; none transfers to synthetic Epitalon at any dose.
  • Pregnancy and fertility. The peptide altered oestrous function in mice and protected mouse oocytes in culture; nothing in people.
  • Sleep expectations. No human sleep or melatonin measurement exists for the peptide; the same gap holds for DSIP, the other sleep peptide it is paired with.
  • Injection technique and vial content. Research-chemical vials are unverified; the mouse dose was 1 microgram, so any vial sold for human use is dosed by convention, not by data.
  • 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.

  • Animal study rats 2007 Animal, preclinical
    At least the first peak of increased neuron activity following exposure to epitalon was found to be associated with the direct action of the peptide on cortical cells.
    Source pmid-17955380 · quoted verbatim from the abstract
  • Animal study mice 2005 Animal, preclinical
    Melatonin or epitalon treatment was followed by longer mean and maximum survival in the 10% of the last survivors among SAMP-1.
    Source pmid-15909815 · quoted verbatim from the abstract
  • Animal study mice n = 54 2003 Animal, preclinical
    The results of this study show that treatment with Epitalon did not influence food consumption, body weight or mean life span of mice.
    Source pmid-14501183 · quoted verbatim from the abstract
  • Animal study rats 2002 Animal, preclinical
    All animals were intranasally administered with Epitalon, the last infusion made in two hours before the biopsy.
    Source pmid-12500171 · quoted verbatim from the abstract
  • Animal study rats 1999 Animal, preclinical
    The effects of a single-shot intraperitoneally administration of melatonin in a dose of 1 mg per kg body weight and epithalamin in a dose of 2.5 mg per kg body weight on the activities of Na+, K(+)-ATPase and 5'-nucleotidase were investigated in the forebrain of juvenile male white rats under the acute hypobaric hypoxia.
    Source pmid-10820844 · quoted verbatim from the abstract
  • In vitro study humans 2025 Mechanistic, in vitro
    Epitalon has been the subject of several anti-aging studies however, quantitative data on the biomolecular pathway leading to telomere length increase, hTERT mRNA expression, telomerase enzyme activity, and ALT activation have not been extensively studied in different cell types.
    Source pmid-40908429 · quoted verbatim from the abstract

Reported timelines

Onset, peak and duration figures as each study reported them.

  • After an intranasal dose in rats, cortical neuron discharge rose two- to two-and-a-half-fold within five to seven minutes, sometimes in several waves over 20 minutes.Animal, preclinical
    Source pmid-17955380
  • In the lifelong mouse study the measurable differences were at the end of life: the last 10% of survivors lived 13.3% longer and maximum lifespan was 12.3% longer, while mean lifespan did not change.Animal, preclinical
    Source pmid-14501183

What is measured over time, and what is not

The time course in the literature spans minutes, in rat cortex after an intranasal dose, to a lifetime, in the mouse study where the only differences appeared at the end of life. Nothing was measured in between that a person would notice. The extract's human studies ran 30 months with six courses and reported the persistence of immune and cortisol rhythms, not how anyone felt. 'How long does Epitalon take to work' therefore has no human answer; the honest one is that the mouse outcomes took a lifetime to show and were modest.

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.

Study durations

Treatment and follow-up periods as stated in each abstract.

  • Lifelong: from age three months until natural death, in 54 treated and 54 control mice.Animal, preclinical
    Source pmid-14501183
  • Six months in the rat colon-cancer model, or shorter windows during initiation or promotion.Animal, preclinical
    Source pmid-12964022
  • Six courses of the extract Epithalamin over 30 months of observation in elderly coronary patients.Observational, human
    Source pmid-18214303
  • Randomized controlled trial humans n = 100 1999 Human clinical trial
    Durations stated: 3 year
    The adjuvant polychemotherapy component was thought to be responsible for a 25.4% increase in one-year survival and 12.5%--in 3-year survival.
    Source pmid-10532103 · quoted verbatim from the abstract

Routes: what the studies used

Subcutaneous in the lifelong mouse studies, intranasal in rat brain and pineal studies, oral in one rat absorption study, intramuscular for the extract in the Russian cancer trial. No human study states a route for synthetic Epitalon. Routes of administration named in each study.

  • Randomized controlled trial humans n = 100 1999 Human clinical trial
    administration by intramuscular route reported
    The modality also included immunotherapy with epithalamin 100 mg, intramuscularly, neoadjuvant intraarterial polychemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil 2 g/m2 and cisplatin 100 mg/m2, concurrent radiotherapy with an interval and 4-6 courses of adjuvant polychemotherapy.
    Source pmid-10532103 · quoted verbatim from the abstract
  • Human study humans 2020 Observational, human
    administration by oral route reported
    Issues related to the immunopharmacological effect and clinical use of natural and synthetic peptide thymomimetics (thymalin, thymogen, vilon, epithalamin, cortexin) and peptide bioregulators from cartilaginous (sigumir, chondrolux) and other tissues in case of trauma, as well as inflammatory, inflammatory and other pathological processes of tissues of the oral cavity and maxillofacial region.
    Source pmid-32362097 · quoted verbatim from the abstract
  • Animal study rats 2007 Animal, preclinical
    administration by intranasal route reported
    Intranasal administration of epitalon was selected as a noninvasive means of applying the agent to the CNS by bypassing the blood-brain barrier.
    Source pmid-17955380 · quoted verbatim from the abstract
  • Animal study mice 2005 Animal, preclinical
    administration by subcutaneous route reported
    (prone) and SAMR-1 (resistant) were exposed 5 times a week monthly to melatonin (with drinking water 20mg/ml during the night hours) or to s.c. injections of epitalon (Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly) at a single dose 1mkg/mouse.
    Source pmid-15909815 · quoted verbatim from the abstract
  • Animal study mice n = 54 2003 Animal, preclinical
    administration by subcutaneous route reported
    From the age of 3 months until their natural deaths, female outbred Swiss-derived SHR mice were subcutaneously injected on 5 consecutive days every month with 0.1 ml of normal saline (control) or with 1.0 microg/mouse (approximately 30-40 microg/kg) of tetrapeptide Epitalon (Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly) dissolved in 0.1 ml saline.
    Source pmid-14501183 · quoted verbatim from the abstract
  • Animal study rats 2002 Animal, preclinical
    administration by intranasal route reported
    The content of C-Fos protein was tested in rat pinealocytes in the norm and stress and in case of intranasal administration of Epitalon (Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly), which regulated pineal secretion processes, presumably, via protooncogenes.
    Source pmid-12500171 · quoted verbatim from the abstract

Weight-normalized doses, as published

Per-kilogram figures exactly as each study published them, for the species it studied.

  • About 30 to 40 micrograms per kilogram, subcutaneous, in the lifelong mouse study.Animal, preclinical
    Source pmid-14501183

Weight-normalized figures above are reproduced exactly as each study published them, for the species it studied. Dose does not scale linearly with body mass between species: metabolic rate, clearance and receptor density differ, and regulatory guidance uses allometric, not proportional, conversion. A mg/kg figure from a rat study is a fact about that rat study and nothing else.

What people report outside the literature

Forum reports are experiences, not evidence. The ten-day cycles people describe come from the Russian Epithalamin protocols, not from any study of the synthetic peptide. 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.

  • Epitalon circulates for longevity, sleep and 'telomere health', injected subcutaneously in short courses, often paired with Pinealon or DSIP and repeated once or twice a year. Reports describe deeper sleep, vivid dreams and a sense of calm, and, as often, no noticeable effect; the ten-day cycle structure comes from the Russian Epithalamin protocols, not from any study of the synthetic peptide. None of this comes from a controlled 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 dose a study actually administered.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 Epitalon for human use is indexed. Vendor sheets follow general practice for lyophilised peptides. The developers' hydrogel and iontophoresis papers concern delivery formats, not storage.

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 Epitalon is discussed

  1. Merging Epitalon with Epithalamin. Every human result cited for the peptide belongs to the extract. Sorting the studies by name is the single most useful thing a reader can do; the same confusion recurs with Pinealon and its parent complex.
  2. Saying it extends lifespan. In the one lifelong study, mean lifespan did not change. The gain was in the last 10% of survivors and in maximum lifespan.
  3. Treating telomere lengthening as unambiguously good. The 2025 study found cancer cells lengthening telomeres through ALT. Longer telomeres in a tumour are the tumour's advantage.
  4. Quoting a ten-day course as a study protocol. The ten-day pattern is the extract's Russian regimen. No study gave synthetic Epitalon to a person on any schedule.
  5. Calling it a melatonin booster. The melatonin restoration was measured after Epithalamin and Pineamin, not after Epitalon, and in rats the peptide changed pineal activity only under stress.
  6. Reading gene-expression results as specificity. Epitalon changes gene expression in thymocytes, stem cells and tobacco plants alike, which argues for a broad chemical effect rather than a targeted one.

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.

Epitalon vs Epithalamin, Pinealon, melatonin and DSIP

Epitalon beside the substances it is confused with or paired with.
SubstanceWhat it isHuman evidenceStatus
EpitalonSynthetic tetrapeptide AEDGNone at a stated dose; telomeres in cells; lifespan in miceResearch chemical; reported FDA category 2; WADA S0
EpithalaminBovine pineal polypeptide extractRussian trials in elderly and oncology patients at 100 mg coursesRegistered medicine in Russia; not approved elsewhere
PinealonSibling tripeptide Glu-Asp-Arg from the same programme; 17 indexed publications2 non-randomized Russian studies in older adultsSupplement in Russia; research chemical elsewhere
MelatoninThe pineal hormone the extract was shown to restoreDozens of randomized sleep trialsPrescription medicine in the EU and UK; supplement in the US; no record on this site
DSIPNine-amino-acid sleep peptide of disputed origin; 559 indexed publications16 small intravenous studies, split on sleepResearch chemical; reported FDA category 2

The pairings that circulate, Epitalon with Pinealon or with DSIP, have no study behind them in any species. The one comparison with data is Epitalon against its own extract, and the data favour the extract, because the extract is the one that was given to people.

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: Cartalax, 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
Epitalon Human clinical trial 170 5 draft
Cartalax Animal, preclinical 12 0 draft
Pinealon Human clinical trial 17 0 draft

Regulatory status: not approved, and named in FDA's 2023 compounding action

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

  • Not approved anywhere as a medicine. The parent extract Epithalamin was registered as a drug in Russia; synthetic Epitalon has no registration documented in the ledger in any country. In the United States it is sold as a research chemical and is reported to have been placed in category 2 of FDA's interim 503A bulk-substances list in September 2023, which bars compounding; the live list should be checked. Not named on the WADA Prohibited List, but as an unapproved substance it falls under S0 at all times.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 human study has given synthetic Epitalon at a stated dose or measured a telomere, melatonin or an adverse event after it.
  • Whether telomere lengthening through the ALT pathway in cancer cells has any consequence in a person is untested in either direction.
  • The elderly melatonin study and FDA's 2023 compounding notice are cited from summaries and are not yet in the ledger. Khavinson 2003, which reported telomerase induction and telomere elongation in human somatic cells, was added to it on 29 September 2026 (pmid-12937682).

Questions people ask

Does Epitalon help sleep?

No human study has measured sleep. The sleep reputation rests on the pineal origin of the sequence and on Russian studies in which the extract Epithalamin, and a related complex, Pineamin, raised night-time melatonin excretion in elderly people. Whether synthetic Epitalon does the same in people has not been tested.

What is Epitalon?

Epitalon (also spelled Epithalon; sequence Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly, AEDG) is a synthetic tetrapeptide designed by Vladimir Khavinson's group in St Petersburg from the amino-acid composition of Epithalamin, a bovine pineal extract used in Soviet and Russian medicine. It is studied for telomerase activation, melatonin restoration and lifespan in animals and cells; no randomized human trial of the peptide itself exists.

What is the half-life of Epitalon?

Not measured in people. No pharmacokinetic study of Epitalon is indexed for any species in the ledger. In rats, intranasal doses changed cortical neuron firing within five to seven minutes, which says it acts quickly, not how long it lasts. Figures quoted online are guesses.

Can Epitalon be taken orally?

One rat study gave Epitalon by mouth and measured intestinal absorption of glucose and glycine, so the route has been used in an animal for a different question. No study has measured whether oral Epitalon reaches the blood or has any effect in people; a four-amino-acid peptide would be expected to be largely digested.

Does Epitalon cause or prevent cancer?

Both directions have animal data and neither has human data for the peptide. In 54 mice injected monthly for life, total tumour incidence did not change and leukaemia fell sixfold; in a rat colon-cancer model it slowed tumour cell proliferation. Against that, a 2025 cell study found it lengthened telomeres in breast-cancer lines through the ALT pathway, which is the mechanism cancers use to keep dividing. The one human trial is of the extract Epithalamin added to cervical-cancer treatment.

Does Epitalon make you look younger?

No study has measured skin, appearance or any visible marker of ageing in people. The anti-ageing claim rests on telomere lengthening in cell cultures, on a 13% extension of maximum lifespan in one mouse study that did not change mean lifespan, and on Russian reports about the extract Epithalamin.

Has Epitalon been tested in humans?

Not the synthetic peptide at a stated dose. The human studies cited for it are of Epithalamin, the bovine pineal extract it was modelled on: a randomized cervical-cancer trial where the extract was one of five treatments, a 30-month study of immune and cortisol rhythms in elderly coronary patients, and melatonin restoration in elderly people. One in vitro study used cultured cells from tuberculosis patients.

Does Epitalon lengthen telomeres?

In cell cultures, yes. The developers reported telomerase activation in human fibroblasts in 2003, and an independent 2025 study confirmed dose-dependent telomere lengthening in normal cells through hTERT and telomerase, while finding that breast-cancer cell lines lengthened their telomeres through the ALT pathway instead. No human study has measured telomere length after Epitalon.

Does Epitalon extend lifespan?

In the one lifelong study, 54 female mice injected on five days a month from age three months showed no change in mean lifespan. The last 10% of survivors lived 13.3% longer and maximum lifespan was 12.3% longer, chromosome aberrations fell 17% and leukaemia was six times rarer. Total tumour incidence did not change. No human lifespan data exist.

Is there an Epitalon dose?

For people, no. The mouse dose was 1 microgram per mouse, about 30 to 40 micrograms per kilogram, subcutaneously on five consecutive days a month; rats received 1 microgram five times a week or 30 nanograms intranasally. The extract Epithalamin was given at 100 mg intramuscular courses in Russian trials. The milligram courses that circulate for the peptide come from the extract's regimen and were never studied.

What are the side effects of Epitalon?

Unmeasured in people. The lifelong mouse study found no effect on weight, food intake or total tumours. The open question is mechanistic: an agent that activates telomerase or the ALT pathway in cells that already have cancer may help the cancer, and no study has looked for that in a person. Forum complaints are limited to injection-site reactions and vivid dreams.

Is Epitalon the same as Epithalamin?

No. Epithalamin is a polypeptide extract of bovine pineal gland, a registered Russian medicine given at milligram doses. Epitalon is a single synthetic tetrapeptide designed from the extract's amino-acid composition and given to animals at micrograms. Their evidence does not transfer either way.

Does Epitalon raise melatonin?

In people, the melatonin data are for the extract Epithalamin and the complex Pineamin, which raised night-time melatonin excretion 1.9-fold in 55 elderly patients. For the peptide, rats showed pineal activation only under stress and none in the normal state; no human melatonin measurement after Epitalon exists.

Is Epitalon FDA approved?

No. It has never been approved anywhere. It is reported to have been placed in category 2 of FDA's interim 503A bulk-substances list in September 2023, which bars compounding; check the live list.

Is Epitalon 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 Epitalon be taken as a nasal spray?

Rats have received it intranasally, at 30 nanograms per animal, with cortical neurons firing within minutes and pineal cells responding under stress. No human study has used any route, so nothing is known about nasal absorption or effect in people.

Who developed Epitalon?

Vladimir Khavinson's group at the St Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, in the 1990s, from the composition of the Soviet pineal extract Epithalamin. Most of the literature is theirs; independent work since 2020 includes the Italian cell studies and the 2025 telomere study in London.

Which species has Epitalon been studied in?

Mice, for lifespan, tumours and oocytes; rats, for colon cancer, cortex, pineal gland and intestine; human cell lines, for telomeres, retinal cells, monocytes and gingival stem cells; and tobacco plants, where it also changed gene expression. No human has received it in a published study at a stated dose.

Sources

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

  1. 1
  2. 2
    From Cellular Aging to Tissue Protection: Epitalon in Regenerative and Longevity Medicine
    doi-10-20944-preprints202607-2123-v1 · · preprint
  3. 3
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  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
    [Age features of bioregulatory therapy of dental diseases.]
    pmid-32362097 · · peer-reviewed
  12. 12
Show the remaining 21 sources
  1. 13
    [Pineamin increased pineal melatonin synthesis in elderly people].
    pmid-28849889 · · peer-reviewed
  2. 14
  3. 15
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  6. 18
  7. 19
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  16. 28
    Peptides and Ageing.
    pmid-12374906 · · peer-reviewed
  17. 29
  18. 30
  19. 31
  20. 32
  21. 33

Reference card

Reference card · generated /compounds/epitalon
Compound
Epitalon, bioregulator short peptides
Evidence tier
Human clinical trial
Indexed publications
170 · 5 RCTs · 5 other clinical trials
Approval
no registered development programme found
Routes reported
intramuscular, intranasal, intraperitoneal, oral, subcutaneous
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 2026-09-29.
  2. · Khavinson 2003, the telomerase and telomere-elongation study in human somatic cells that the page cited from a summary, is now in the ledger (pmid-12937682).
  3. · Written under the sequencing rule after research/intents/epitalon.json: guide (8 sections incl. an Epitalon-vs-Epithalamin study table), FAQ to 12 plus 9 from the map, hand-written dose, weight-normalized, duration, timeline and adverse-event claims from the abstracts; mechanism, reported-use and regulatory claims; two misdrafted interactions removed; intent-driven H1 and title with both spellings. Triage: two contextual links added.
  4. · Claims drafted extractively from 29 ledger sources by scripts/draft_claims.py: 20 claims, 24 evidence-table rows. Status researched -> draft.
  5. · Claims drafted extractively from 29 ledger sources by scripts/draft_claims.py: 25 claims, 24 evidence-table rows. Status researched -> draft.
  6. · Claims drafted extractively from 29 ledger sources by scripts/draft_claims.py: 28 claims, 24 evidence-table rows. Status researched -> draft.
  7. · Metadata refreshed by scripts/fetch_evidence.py --refresh-meta: tier animal-preclinical -> human-clinical-trial.
  8. · Evidence fetched from Europe PMC and ChEMBL by scripts/fetch_evidence.py; claims not yet written.