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Epithalon

Pineal tetrapeptide · 4 amino acids
What it is

Epithalon is a lab-made four-amino-acid peptide (Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly, or AEDG) built from the amino acid makeup of a pineal gland extract, not cut as a fragment from one larger protein.[1][2]

Origin: Described by Khavinson and colleagues at the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology; later work identified the AEDG sequence within the pineal polypeptide complex.[1][2]

What researchers study it for

Research areas

Published work is mostly in cells and animals.

  • Telomerase activity and telomere length in human cell cultures[2][3]
  • Aging biomarkers, life span and spontaneous tumors in mice[4][5]
  • Gene expression and protein synthesis during neurogenesis in cell models[6]
  • Wound-related cell models, including delayed healing setups[7]

Evidence level

Level 1 of 4: Lab and animal onlyPublished Epithalon studies are in cell cultures and animals, not large controlled trials in people.[2][4][5]

Why so few human trials?

Cautions

Studies and regulators point to several reasons for care.

  • FDA says it has not identified safety-related information for epitalon for the proposed route of administration, so it lacks enough information to know whether the drug would harm people[8]
  • Most aging and tumor findings come from mouse studies, not people[4][5]

Epithalon is not FDA approved.[8]

Also called

Epithalon goes by several names.

  • Epitalon, a common spelling in research papers and on FDA’s website[2][8]
  • AEDG or Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly[1][2]
  • Synthetic pineal tetrapeptide[2][5]

Good to know

Researchers built Epithalon from the amino acids found in a pineal extract rather than cutting a piece out of one protein.[1][2]

Handling

Storage basics General

These general basics apply to most freeze-dried research peptides.

Most research peptides come as a freeze-dried powder in a sealed vial
Unmixed vials are generally kept cold, dry, and away from light
Mixed solutions are generally refrigerated, since they are less stable than the dry powder
Peptides 101For mixing basicsNPL Dose CalculatorTo work out concentration after mixing
Go deeper

Sources and studies

These studies and official pages are the research behind this profile.