What Epithalon is
Epithalon (AEDG) is a synthetic tetrapeptide from the Khavinson bioregulator school, studied in Russia for decades as a pineal peptide with claims around telomerase activation and lifespan in animal models. The human evidence consists of small, mostly Russian studies that have not been independently replicated, which puts it firmly in the research-compound category despite its long history.
Community use follows the published course pattern rather than continuous dosing: a 10 to 20 day run of daily injections, repeated once or twice a year.
What we do not know
- Almost the entire evidence base comes from a single Russian research group over several decades, and has not been independently replicated outside it.
- The human longevity results are long-term observational follow-ups rather than randomized trials, with methodology that has not been reproduced.
- Telomerase induction is a cell-culture finding. Whether it occurs in a dosed human, and what it would mean, is untested.
Reconstitution math
Concentration is everything: the same 10 mg vial gives a different draw for every amount of bacteriostatic water you add. The table uses the common 2 mL setup for each vial size, which puts every unit on a U-100 insulin syringe at 50 mcg for the default vial. Dashes mark draws too small to measure or larger than the syringe.
| Vial | BAC water | Concentration | 5 mg | 10 mg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 mg | 2 mL | 5 mg/mL | 100 u | - |
| 20 mg | 2 mL | 10 mg/mL | 50 u | 100 u |
| 50 mg | 2 mL | 25 mg/mL | 20 u | 40 u |
Dosing and protocol
Community protocol: 5 to 10 mg daily for a 10 to 20 day course, repeated once or twice a year.
Typical courses run 5 to 10 mg daily, subcutaneously, for 10 to 20 days. On a 10 mg vial with 2 mL of water, a 5 mg dose is a full 1 mL draw, so course users often reconstitute with less water or buy the larger vials.
Pharmacokinetics
No curve is shown, on purpose.
Epithalon has no published human pharmacokinetics. As a four-amino-acid peptide it is expected to clear in minutes, and its claimed effects (telomerase activation, pineal function) are cellular signals that a plasma curve would say nothing about.
How it is thought to work
A synthetic tetrapeptide modeled on epithalamin, a pineal gland extract. The proposed mechanism is restoration of melatonin rhythm and, in cell work, induction of telomerase activity.
What the evidence supports
This table grades how well each outcome has been studied in humans, not how well Epithalon works. A strong grade means the question was asked properly, and the answer may still have been negative. Nothing here is inherited from a drug class, a close analog, or the parent molecule of a fragment.
| Outcome | Strongest published evidence |
|---|---|
| Human aging markers and mortality | Human, observational |
| Lifespan in rodents | Animal only |
| Telomerase activity in cell culture | Mechanistic only |
| Independent replication of any result | No data |
Storage and handling
Lyophilized vials keep best cold, dark, and dry; refrigeration is the community default and freezing lyophilized powder is common for long holds. After reconstitution, refrigerate at 2 to 8 C, do not freeze the solution, and date the vial. Bacteriostatic water's preservative keeps multi-dose use practical for about 28 days by USP convention, though our 120-day stability study found the preservative itself outlasts that window.
Got a certificate of analysis with your vial? Run it through our COA Reader: it reads the report in plain English, checks purity and mass against the label claim, and links the testing lab’s own verification page. Our guide to reading a COA explains what the numbers do and do not tell you.
Sources
- Khavinson and Morozov, Peptides of pineal gland and thymus prolong human life, Neuro Endocrinol Lett 2003PMID 14523363
- Anisimov et al., Effect of Epitalon on biomarkers of aging, Mech Ageing Dev 2003