Every human number attached to Epithalon dosage belongs to a different substance. The trials used Epithalamin, a cattle pineal extract. The vials sold online are the synthetic tetrapeptide.
The short version
No human trial of Epithalon has been run. The registry lists zero studies. The 2003 cell study used 0.05 µg/mL in a dish, for 4 days. The mouse work gave 1 µg per mouse. The human data is for Epithalamin, a cattle gland extract, not this peptide.
Epithalon is Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly, four residues, synthesized. Epithalamin is a peptide fraction extracted from cattle pineal glands. They came from the same laboratory and they are routinely written about as if they were interchangeable. They are not, and the dosing confusion around this compound is almost entirely that one substitution.
What the Epithalon studies administered
| Study | Species | Dose | Route | Duration | n |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Khavinson et al., 2003 | Human fetal lung fibroblasts, in culture | 0.05 µg/mL | Culture medium | 4 days, from passage 27 | — |
| Al-Dulaimi et al., 2025 | Human cell lines (breast cancer; normal) | 0.1 to 1.0 µg/mL | Culture medium | 4 days (cancer); 3 weeks (normal) | — |
| Anisimov et al., 2002 | Mouse (HER-2/neu transgenic, female) | 1 µg per mouse | Subcutaneous | 5 consecutive days each month from 2 months old | — |
| Bondarenko & Anisimov, 1992 — Epithalamin | Rat (young and old) | 2.5 mg/kg | Not stated in the record | 5 daily morning injections | — |
| Korkushko et al., 2011 — Epithalamin | Human (elderly, coronary disease) | — (not stated in the record) | — | 6 courses over 3 years; 15-year follow-up | 39 treated, 40 control |
A dash means we have no sourced figure for that cell and have not estimated one.
Read the substance column, not just the dose column. Two of those five rows are a different compound, and the only human row is one of them.
- Rows 1 and 2 are cells in a dish. The unit is a concentration.
- Row 3 is a mouse, and the unit is an absolute amount per animal rather than per kilogram.
- Rows 4 and 5 are Epithalamin, and row 5 — the only human study here — does not state an amount at all.
Has Epithalon been tested in humans?
Not in a randomized trial, and we checked three ways. The clinical-trials registry returns zero studies for epitalon, epithalon or epithalamin. The FDA drug database returns no record. And an independent review states it outright.
Clinical studies on epithalon have not been conducted. However, epithalamin is approved in Russia for treatment of menopause-related symptoms, anovulatory infertility and hormone-dependent tumors. It is not approved for any medical uses outside of Russia.
Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, Cognitive Vitality reportThat is the whole position in three sentences, and it is from a reviewer with no stake in the compound.
The telomerase result, at the concentration it used
Khavinson and colleagues reported in 2003 that Epithalon induced telomerase activity and lengthened telomeres in human somatic cells. This is the study the entire market rests on.
The peptide was added to the culture medium at 0.05 µg/mL, for four days, starting at passage 27 of a human fetal lung fibroblast line. There is a single concentration in the paper and no dose-response.
A 2025 study from an independent UK group revisited the question in human cell lines at 0.1 to 1.0 µg/mL and reported telomere lengthening. That is the only replication outside the originating laboratory we could find, and it is still cell culture.
A culture concentration cannot become a milligram figure. It describes the fluid around a cell in a dish. Turning it into an amount for a person would need a volume of distribution, a clearance rate and a bioavailability figure, and Epithalon has none of the three published. This is not a hard conversion done badly. It is a conversion with no inputs.
- Epithalon — synthetic Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly. Cell culture and mice only.
- Epithalamin — a peptide fraction from cattle pineal glands. All the human work, and the Russian registration.
- The vials sold online are the first one. The reassuring human history belongs to the second.
Epithalon
The synthetic tetrapeptide studied in the cell-culture literature reviewed here. Research use only — supplied with a batch-matched certificate of analysis.
The human data, and what it is actually about
Korkushko and colleagues followed 39 elderly coronary patients given Epithalamin alongside standard therapy against 40 controls, in six courses over three years, with a 15-year follow-up. That is a serious study design.
The published report does not state a dose. Two secondary reviews describe 10 mg given intramuscularly in courses of five injections. We report that as a review figure, because that is what it is, and because three sources give three different sample sizes for what is described as the same cohort.
It is critical to note that every preclinical and clinical study discussed here has been conducted by Dr. Khavinson's group in Russia with no independent confirmation of their results.
Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, Cognitive Vitality reportSingle-laboratory evidence is not worthless. It is one confidence interval, not two, and a fifteen-year mortality follow-up run by the group that invented the compound is exactly the kind of result that needs someone else to repeat it.
What if you already have a number?
The only Epithalon amounts in the record are a culture concentration and a microgram-per-mouse figure.
Turning a figure into a syringe volume is arithmetic, and the peptide calculator does it from the vial strength and the volume of diluent. That part always works.
Which is the trap. A calculator converts an unsourced number as cleanly as a sourced one. The output looks equally precise either way. Neither is a starting point for a person.
What is checkable
A four-residue peptide is the easiest identity check in this library. Mass spec gives an unambiguous answer and HPLC purity is a number.
Vials are also commonly sold at 50 mg, which is a very large amount of material relative to anything in the published record. That gap is worth holding in mind. How to read a COA, the complete guide, the Russian aging trials and where to buy Epithalon cover the rest, and the peptide dosage chart places it in the library.
Epithalon
Research-use-only material, sold by the vial with batch documentation. Check the certificate of analysis against the batch you receive.
What to know now
- No randomized human trial of Epithalon exists. The registry returns zero studies and the FDA database has no record.
- The 2003 telomerase study used a single concentration, 0.05 µg/mL, over four days in cell culture.
- The mouse study gave 1 µg per mouse subcutaneously, five days a month.
- The human trials used Epithalamin, a cattle pineal extract, not the synthetic tetrapeptide.
- The 10 mg intramuscular figure comes from reviews, not from the trial reports.
- Almost all of this work comes from one laboratory, with one in-vitro exception in 2025.
What we're watching
An independent in-vivo replication is the study this field needs. The 2025 UK work is the first outside confirmation of anything here, and it is in a dish.
A registered trial of the tetrapeptide itself would be the other. As long as the human evidence belongs to a bovine extract, the compound people actually buy has no clinical record at all.
Frequently asked questions
Has Epithalon been tested in humans?
Not in a randomized trial. A search of the clinical-trials registry for epitalon, epithalon and epithalamin returns zero studies, and there is no FDA record. The human work belongs to Epithalamin, which is a different preparation.
What is the difference between Epithalon and Epithalamin?
Epithalon is the synthetic tetrapeptide Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly. Epithalamin is a peptide extract from cattle pineal glands. The human trials used the extract; the vials sold online are the tetrapeptide.
What concentration did the telomerase study use?
0.05 µg per millilitre, added to the culture medium of human fetal lung fibroblasts for four days from passage 27. That is a concentration in a dish, not a dose given to anyone.
What dose did the Epithalamin human studies use?
The primary trial reports do not state one. Two secondary reviews describe 10 mg intramuscularly, in courses of five injections, and we report that as a review figure rather than a trial figure.
Who ran the Epithalon research?
Almost all of it came from one group in St Petersburg. An independent review notes that no outside laboratory has confirmed the results; the one exception we found is a 2025 UK cell-culture study.
References
- Khavinson, V. K., Bondarev, I. E., & Butyugov, A. A. (2003). Epithalon peptide induces telomerase activity and telomere elongation in human somatic cells. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 135(6), 590–592. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1025493705728
- Al-Dulaimi, S., Thomas, R., Matta, S., & Roberts, T. (2025). Epitalon increases telomere length in human cell lines through telomerase upregulation or ALT activity. Biogerontology, 26(5), 178. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10522-025-10315-x
- Anisimov, V. N., Khavinson, V. K., Provinciali, M., et al. (2002). Inhibitory effect of the peptide epitalon on the development of spontaneous mammary tumors in HER-2/neu transgenic mice. International Journal of Cancer, 101(1), 7–10. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.10570
- Bondarenko, L. A., & Anisimov, V. N. (1992). Age-related peculiarities of the effect of epithalamin on the diurnal rhythm of pineal serotonin, N-acetylserotonin and melatonin in rats. Biulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, 113(2), 194–195. PMID 1611074
- Korkushko, O. V., Khavinson, V. Kh., Shatilo, V. B., & Antonyk-Sheglova, I. A. (2011). Peptide geroprotector from the pituitary gland inhibits rapid aging of elderly people: Results of 15-year follow-up. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 151(3), 366–369. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10517-011-1332-x
- Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation. Cognitive Vitality report: Epithalamin / Epithalon. https://www.alzdiscovery.org/uploads/cognitive_vitality_media/Epithalamin-and-Epithalon-Cognitive-Vitality-For-Researchers.pdf
- Araj, S. K., Brzezik, J., Mądra-Gackowska, K., & Szeleszczuk, Ł. (2025). Overview of Epitalon — Highly Bioactive Pineal Tetrapeptide with Promising Properties. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 26(6), 2691. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26062691
- Khavinson, V., Diomede, F., Mironova, E., et al. (2020). AEDG peptide (epitalon) stimulates gene expression and protein synthesis during neurogenesis: Possible epigenetic mechanism. Molecules, 25(3), 609. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25030609
- Yue, X., Liu, S. L., Guo, J. N., et al. (2022). Epitalon protects against post-ovulatory aging-related damage of mouse oocytes. Aging (Albany NY), 14(7), 3191–3202. https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.204007
The absence of a registered trial was checked directly against ClinicalTrials.gov and the FDA drug approval database, for all three spellings of the name.