Short 2-4 amino acid peptides plus a thymus extract from one Russian institute, each tied to an organ; evidence is mostly in-house.
Also called Short peptide bioregulators, Vilon, Cortagen, Cardiogen, Vesugen, Bronchogen, Pancragen, Testagen, Cartalax, Thymalin, Thymogen
The Khavinson bioregulators are a family of very short peptides, two to four amino acids long, developed by Vladimir Khavinson and colleagues at the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology. The idea started with crude extracts from animal organs (calf thymus, pineal gland, brain cortex). The group then analyzed the amino acids in each extract and made a short synthetic peptide meant to copy its activity: Vilon (Lys-Glu) for the immune system, Cortagen (Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro) for brain, Cardiogen (Ala-Glu-Asp-Arg) for heart, Vesugen (Lys-Glu-Asp) for blood vessels, Bronchogen (Ala-Glu-Asp-Leu) for lung, Pancragen (Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp) for pancreas, Testagen (Lys-Glu-Asp-Gly) for testes and Cartalax (Ala-Glu-Asp) for cartilage. Epitalon and Pinealon belong to the same family and have their own pages.
The claimed mechanism is that these tiny peptides enter the cell nucleus, bind specific DNA sequences or histones and switch on genes that decline with age, in a tissue-specific way. The evidence for that is cell culture, DNA-binding and computer docking work, almost all from the same institute and its collaborators. Thymalin, the calf-thymus extract that started the program, and the dipeptide Thymogen (Glu-Trp) are registered as prescription immune drugs in Russia. The organ-named synthetic peptides are not listed as medicines in Russian drug references and are marketed mainly as dietary supplements.
Human data exist but are thin: a 266-person observational study of Thymalin and the pineal extract Epithalamin in elderly people reporting 2-fold lower mortality over 6-8 years, a 63-person study of Pancragen in older adults with diabetes, a 41-patient study of Vesugen in erectile dysfunction and a 2022 COVID-19 study of Thymalin. None was a blinded, randomized, independently run trial. Treat the dramatic lifespan and mortality numbers as hypotheses from one research group, not established effects.
What it binds to, and what happens inside the body after that, step by step.
The group's model is that 2-4 amino acid peptides pass through cell and nuclear membranes, bind DNA promoter regions or histone proteins and change which genes are expressed, restoring patterns that fade with age in a tissue-specific way. Supporting data come from fluorescent-peptide uptake in HeLa cells, DNA melting experiments, docking simulations and gene-expression changes in cultured cells and mice. No independent group has established a receptor or confirmed tissue specificity in humans.
Human results and animal results are kept apart below. A result in rats tells you a mechanism is plausible. It does not tell you what happens in a person.
Human studies exist for Thymalin, Pancragen, Vesugen and a few others, but almost all come from the Khavinson institute and its collaborators, were small or observational, and were not blinded or independently replicated. The large mortality and lifespan effects come from one non-randomized cohort of 266 elderly people. The tissue-specific gene-regulation mechanism rests on cell culture and docking studies from the same group.
266 people over 60 followed 6-8 years; Thymalin and/or Epithalamin (extracts) vs untreated controls
Mortality was 2.0-2.1 times lower with Thymalin, 1.6-1.8 times lower with Epithalamin and 2.5 times lower with both; allocation was not randomized or blinded.
Read the studySevere COVID-19 inpatients: standard care vs plus tocilizumab vs plus Thymalin
Hospital mortality was 40.9% with standard care, 28.4% with tocilizumab and 20.6% with Thymalin in the English abstract (16.2% in the Russian abstract); the abstract does not describe randomization or blinding.
Read the study63 older adults: 30 healthy and 33 with type 2 diabetes
Pancragen lowered fasting and glucose-tolerance-test glucose, insulin and insulin resistance in the diabetic patients; untreated patients did not change.
Read the study41 men with vasculogenic erectile dysfunction
Vesugen monotherapy improved penile artery blood flow on clinical and instrumental measures; no control group.
Read the study32 adults aged 41-83 with polymorbidity
Vesugen and Pinealon were reported to slow biological-age indicators, but also showed prooxidant activity and lowered CD34+ cells.
Read the studyFemale CBA mice from 6 months of age
Subcutaneous Vilon increased physical activity, prolonged lifespan and reduced spontaneous tumors.
Read the study9 old female rhesus monkeys: Pancragen (5) vs glimepiride (4)
A 10-day course of Pancragen injections lowered basal glucose and normalized insulin and C-peptide.
Read the studyHuman embryonic pancreatic and bronchial cells, prostatic fibroblasts
Pancragen, Bronchogen and Vesugen each raised differentiation factors in their matched tissue, more so in aged cultures.
Read the studyThese are questions the published research has not answered.
Only Thymalin (an extract, current registration LP-005867 of 2024, prescription only) and Thymogen (Glu-Trp injection, current registration LP-001808 of 2023, replacing LS-002304, prescription only) are registered as medicines in Russia. The synthetic organ-specific peptides (Vilon, Cortagen, Cardiogen, Vesugen, Bronchogen, Pancragen, Testagen, Cartalax) are not listed as medicines in Russian drug references; they are marketed mainly as dietary supplements there and as research chemicals elsewhere. We did not check the supplement status against a Russian registry. Thymalin was permitted for medical use by USSR Ministry of Health order no. 1108 of November 10, 1982 (registration 82/1108/8), per the developers' own review; it remains registered in Russia. None of these peptides is named on the 2026 WADA Prohibited List. The synthetic organ-named peptides have no drug approval anywhere, and supplement status is not a therapeutic approval, so they fall under WADA's S0 category for unapproved substances, banned in and out of competition. Thymalin and Thymogen are registered medicines in Russia and likely sit outside S0; athletes should confirm with their anti-doping authority before using either.
No human half-life has been published for Khavinson Peptide Bioregulators, so we do not draw a clearance curve. Half-lives quoted online for it are usually estimates from animal data.
This table records the doses that trials and approved labels used, with the source for each row. It is a record of research, not a recommendation, and it is open to free members.
Which symptoms are expected and which mean stop and get help: side effects and red flags.
Tap a claim to see what the studies found.
Organ-specific effects are shown in cell cultures and animals from one institute. No human trial has measured organ-specific rejuvenation.
That figure comes from one non-randomized, unblinded cohort of 266 people run by the developers. It has not been replicated.
Shown with labeled peptides in HeLa cells and in docking models from the same group. Not demonstrated in human tissue.
The synthetic peptides are not natural products, long-term safety has not been studied, and supplement products are not quality-checked.
No study has measured whether intact peptide survives digestion in humans.
These pairings come up often. Almost none have been tested together in a trial, and the evidence note on each says so plainly.
The institute's flagship anti-aging combination: thymus plus pineal bioregulators.
EvidenceThe 266-person cohort used the extracts Thymalin and Epithalamin, not synthetic Epitalon. It was not randomized or blinded, and no independent trial exists.
Sold as rotating 10-30 day courses of several organ-named peptides at once.
EvidenceNo study has tested multiple bioregulators together or rotating courses in humans.
Thymalin lyophilisate: 2-25 C per the Russian label. Synthetic peptide powders: keep dry, cool and away from light; no published stability data.
Thymalin is reconstituted immediately before intramuscular injection. No published stability data exist for reconstituted synthetic short peptides.
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