Reviewed & approved by Dr. Nova Reyes · Last checked 2026-10-24. ← Back to Evidence Library

Pinealon

EDR tripeptide · L-glutamyl-L-aspartyl-L-arginine (Glu-Asp-Arg) · Khavinson brain peptide bioregulator · Пинеалон

Status: Approved for Adam Greene by Dr. Nova Reyes, 2026-10-24

At a glance

Evidence verdict: - Very limited for age-related cognitive complaints, organic brain syndrome, and occupational stress (oral capsules in Russian studies) (small open-label or non-standard Russian cohorts—32 polymorbid older adults (people with multiple chronic illnesses) with organic brain syndrome, 110 aging military veterans where Pinealon was co-administered with Vesugen, and occupational cohorts of truck drivers and locomotive crews—plus developer-network reviews reporting memory gains in 72 older patients; zero modern randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials and single-network authorship centered on V. Kh. Khavinson's St. Petersburg Institute) ^R1–R6 - No human data (animal/lab only) for subcutaneous or intramuscular Pinealon injections (the main gray-market product), Alzheimer's disease, stroke, or traumatic brain injury ^R7–R10 Evidence verdict: Oral capsules in Russian cognitive/occupational cohorts (single-network authorship, often combined with Vesugen): Very limited · Subcutaneous/intramuscular injections, Alzheimer's, stroke, or TBI: No human data (animal/lab only) Card verdict: Very limited (oral capsules in Russian cognitive/occupational cohorts) · Injected vials, Alzheimer's, stroke, TBI: No human data Card note: Varies by use, see page

This page reports what studies used. It is not dosing advice.


What it is	A synthetic 3-amino-acid peptide (Glu-Asp-Arg, or EDR) designed at the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology from the amino-acid composition of animal brain-cortex extracts (Cortexin).
Who takes it	Buyers in Russia and Eastern Europe taking over-the-counter oral Pinealon capsules as a "brain bioregulator"; Western biohackers and gray-market peptide buyers injecting reconstituted Pinealon vials subcutaneously or using nasal sprays for memory, focus, sleep, or neuroprotection.
Does it work?	No modern randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled human trial has ever been published. Small Russian studies of oral capsules (often combined with a second tripeptide, Vesugen, or compared against spa/physiotherapy routines) report changes in blood lipids, oxidative-stress markers, composite "biological age" scores, and subjective fatigue or memory ratings. Injectable Pinealon has zero human clinical trials—its Alzheimer's and stroke data come entirely from cell dishes and rodents.
Is it safe?	Russian oral-capsule papers report no side effects or allergic reactions in short courses, but they lack systematic adverse-event tables and independent monitoring. Subcutaneous or intranasal Pinealon has no human safety data at all.
Is it legal?	US / EU / UK: Not an approved drug; not on the US FDA 503A or 503B compounding lists (cannot be legally compounded for human prescriptions in the US). Russia / EAEU: Sold over the counter as an oral dietary supplement (biologically active food additive, BAD), not as an approved prescription medicine `[UNVERIFIED: Russian GRLS drug registry blocks automated queries from this environment]`. WADA: Not named on the 2026 Prohibited List, though Section S0 (Non-Approved Substances) applies to unapproved injectable use.

Legend: HUMAN data · ANIMAL / LAB data · UNKNOWN · UNVERIFIED: not yet confirmed against a primary source

1. What it is and what people claim it does

Pinealon is a synthetic tripeptide made of three common amino acids: L-glutamate, L-aspartate, and L-arginine (Glu-Asp-Arg, or EDR). It was created in the 2000s by Vladimir Khavinson and colleagues at the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology as part of their family of ultra-short "Khavinson peptide bioregulators" (alongside Epitalon [AEDG], Vesugen [KED], Bronchogen [AEDL], and Cardiogen [AEDR]).

According to the St. Petersburg group, EDR was synthesized after analyzing the amino-acid composition of Cortexin, a complex polypeptide extract derived from cattle and pig cerebral cortex used in Russian neurology. ^{R5, R6} In Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union, Pinealon is sold in oral capsules as a dietary supplement (biologically active food additive, or BAD) for memory, attention, mental fatigue, and recovery after brain injury. In Western biohacking and research-peptide markets, however, vendors sell freeze-dried Pinealon vials for subcutaneous injection or DIY nasal sprays, claiming that the tripeptide crosses the blood-brain barrier, binds directly to DNA promoters in neurons, restores dendritic spines in Alzheimer's disease, and slows brain aging.

2. What the human evidence actually shows

The Open Peptide Project's reading: Very limited for oral capsules in age-related cognitive complaints, organic brain syndrome, and occupational stress, and No human data (animal/lab only) for subcutaneous injections, Alzheimer's disease, or traumatic brain injury.

Indication	Route studied	Evidence rating	Summary of human studies
Age-related cognitive complaints, organic brain syndrome, and "biological age" markers	Oral capsules (Russian supplement formulation, often combined with Vesugen)	Very limited	Small Russian studies—including 32 polymorbid older patients with organic brain syndrome, 110 aging military veterans (given Pinealon + Vesugen together), and 72 older clinic patients summarized in developer reviews—report improved memory test scores, lower cholesterol, or shifts in composite "biological age" formulas. Zero modern double-blind placebo-controlled trials. ^{R1, R2, R5, R6}
Occupational stress and fatigue in transport workers	Oral capsules (alone or combined with Vesugen)	Very limited	2 Russian occupational studies in long-haul truck drivers and railway locomotive crews report improved neuroticism, attention, or stress-adaptation indices without modern randomized trial reporting. ^{R3, R4}
Subcutaneous or intramuscular injection (gray-market vials)	Subcutaneous / IM injection	No human data	Zero human clinical trials found. Human papers used oral capsules; only rodents received injections. ^R1–R10
Alzheimer's disease, stroke, or traumatic brain injury	Cell culture & rodent models	No human data	Animal/lab only: Dendritic spine and oxidative-stress findings come from transgenic 5xFAD mice, rat offspring, and cultured neurons. ^R7–R10

What the Russian oral human studies report—and why the evidence stays Very limited

A search of PubMed, Google Scholar, and Russian biomedical indexes (eLibrary / CyberLeninka) shows a striking mismatch between how Pinealon is sold in the West (as an injectable vial) and how it was actually tested in humans (exclusively as oral capsules in Russian cohorts affiliated with its inventors):

Organic brain syndrome in older polymorbid patients (Meshchaninov et al., 2015): Researchers in Yekaterinburg and St. Petersburg studied 32 patients aged 60–74 with cardiovascular disease and early organic brain syndrome who took oral Pinealon or Vesugen capsules. The authors reported decreases in total blood cholesterol, more stable blood glucose, changes in red-blood-cell lipid peroxidation markers, and a small shift in a calculated "biological age" score, while stating that subjective complaints did not change significantly over the short course. ^R1
Combined Vesugen + Pinealon in aging military veterans (Myakotnykh et al., 2016): In a study of 110 men over age 60 with early cerebral atherosclerosis and stress-related pathology (including veterans of military conflicts), patients were divided into four groups receiving either combined Vesugen + Pinealon capsules, balneotherapy (mineral baths), hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or massage. Because Pinealon was given together with Vesugen and compared against non-drug spa therapies rather than a blinded placebo capsule, it is impossible to isolate any effect of Pinealon itself. ^R2
Occupational cohorts of truck drivers and locomotive crews (Bashkireva & Artamonova, 2012; Nazimko, Kozina & Arutjunyan, 2012): Two Russian occupational-medicine papers tested oral peptide bioregulators in long-haul truck drivers (given combined Pinealon + Vesugen) and railway locomotive brigade workers to counter work-related stress, reporting improvements in psychological testing, attention, and calculated biological-age indices. ^{R3, R4}
Elderly memory cohorts summarized in St. Petersburg Institute reviews (Umnov, Lin'kova & Khavinson, 2013; Khavinson et al., 2020): Reviews by the developer group summarize an internal clinic cohort of 72 older adults (aged 50–89) with cerebro-asthenic (brain-fatigue) symptoms and memory complaints who took oral Pinealon capsules alongside standard care, reporting improved short-term memory scores and reduced emotional lability compared with control patients. However, primary trial registrations, randomization concealment, dropout accounting, and raw statistical tables are not published to international CONSORT standards. ^{R5, R6}

Why preclinical Alzheimer's and neuroprotection papers do not prove human benefit

Western vendor pages frequently cite studies showing that Pinealon "restores brain synapses in Alzheimer's" or "protects neurons from oxidative death." Those studies are real, but every single one was conducted in cell culture dishes or rodents:

Alzheimer's mouse and cell-culture models (Kraskovskaya et al., 2017 and 2024): In cultured hippocampal neurons from transgenic 5xFAD Alzheimer's-model mice and in 5xFAD mice treated in vivo, the EDR tripeptide partially restored the density of mushroom-shaped dendritic spines. ^R7 A 2024 follow-up study in human skin fibroblasts chemically reprogrammed into neuron-like cells in a dish reported that EDR and KED tripeptides increased neurite length and calcium signaling in vitro. ^R8
Oxidative stress in rat cells and prenatal rat offspring (Khavinson et al., 2011; Arutjunyan et al., 2012): In rat cerebellar granule cells and PC12 tumor cells exposed to hydrogen peroxide in a dish, nanomolar Pinealon reduced reactive oxygen species and cell death. ^R9 In pregnant rats given high methionine to induce hyperhomocysteinemia, injecting the mother rats with Pinealon before and during pregnancy improved their rat pups' maze learning and cerebellar cell survival against oxidative stress. ^R10

None of these rodent or dish experiments tells us whether injecting or swallowing Pinealon slows Alzheimer's disease, improves memory, or repairs brain tissue in humans.

Study details — click to expand all human study rows (doses, schedules, outcomes, and side effects)

Study (Year)	Design & Population	Route, Dose & Schedule	Primary / Key Outcomes	Adverse Events & Dropouts	Funding & Disclosures
Meshchaninov et al. (2015) ^R1	Open-label comparative clinical-biochemical study; 32 hospitalized polymorbid patients (ages 60–74) with cardiovascular disease and initial signs of organic brain syndrome	Oral capsules: Pinealon or Vesugen 100 mcg (1 capsule) orally once daily before meals for 30 days `[UNVERIFIED: exact capsule microgram strength from Russian full text; abstract confirms 32 patients aged 60–74 treated with Pinealon or Vesugen]`	Lower serum total cholesterol, stabilized blood glucose, altered neutrophil/lymphocyte apoptosis markers and erythrocyte lipid peroxidation, and slower calculated biological aging score; subjective patient complaints did not change significantly.	0 adverse events reported in abstract; dropout count not detailed.	Ural State Medical University (Yekaterinburg) & St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology network.
Myakotnykh et al. (2016) ^R2	4-arm non-blinded comparative rehabilitation study; 110 men aged >60 (including military veterans) with initial cerebral atherosclerosis and stress-associated pathology	Oral capsules (combination): Group 1 received combined Vesugen + Pinealon orally (standard Russian bioregulator course of 1–2 capsules daily for 20–30 days `[UNVERIFIED: exact capsule schedule from Russian full text]`) vs Group 2 (mineral baths), Group 3 (hyperbaric oxygen), and Group 4 (massage), followed for 1 year	Reported improvements in biological age indices, lipid profile, and cerebral blood-flow / neurophysiological measures across restorative modalities; cannot isolate Pinealon because it was co-administered with Vesugen.	No drug-related adverse events reported in abstract; dropout breakdown by arm not reported in English summary.	Ural State Medical University, Yekaterinburg, Russia.
Bashkireva & Artamonova (2012) ^R3	Occupational comparative cohort study; long-haul truck drivers (lorry drivers) with occupational stress and neurotic states `[UNVERIFIED: exact n from Russian full text]`	Oral capsules (combination): Combined Pinealon + Vesugen oral bioregulator course `[UNVERIFIED: exact daily dose and duration from Russian full text]`	Reported reduction in neurotic symptom scores, emotional instability, and fatigue indices in drivers receiving combined peptide bioregulators.	No adverse reactions reported in abstract.	St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology / North-Western State Medical University.
Nazimko, Kozina & Arutjunyan (2012) ^R4	Occupational cohort study; railway locomotive brigade workers exposed to chronic shift and operational stress `[UNVERIFIED: exact n from Russian full text]`	Oral capsules: Short course of oral Pinealon bioregulator capsules `[UNVERIFIED: exact daily dose and duration from Russian full text]`	Reported improved professional attention/reaction metrics, antioxidant blood markers, and reduced biological-age discrepancy.	No adverse reactions reported in abstract.	Co-authored by L. S. Kozina and A. V. Arutjunyan (St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology).
Umnov, Lin'kova & Khavinson (2013) / Khavinson et al. (2020) ^{R5, R6}	Clinical cohort summarized in developer-network reviews; 72 older patients (ages 50–89) with cerebro-asthenic syndrome, memory complaints, or post-stroke/traumatic encephalopathy	Oral capsules: Oral Pinealon capsules (`100–200 mcg/day` for 20 to 30 days alongside standard therapy vs standard therapy alone `[UNVERIFIED: primary data reported in Russian institute monographs/reviews rather than a standalone CONSORT RCT]`)	Reviews report improved short-term memory, orientation, and emotional stability scores and altered EEG alpha-rhythm index compared with control patients on standard therapy alone.	Reviews state 0 side effects, allergic reactions, or drug interactions observed.	Authored by V. Kh. Khavinson, N. S. Lin'kova, and colleagues at the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology (developers and patent holders of Pinealon).

3. Known risks, side effects, and long-term unknowns

Oral capsules (Russian supplement studies): Across the Russian clinical papers and reviews, authors uniformly state that oral Pinealon capsules caused no allergic reactions, laboratory toxicity, or side effects. However, none of these publications includes a modern, independent Data Safety Monitoring Board or a standardized adverse-event table comparing treatment against a blinded placebo. ^R1–R6
Subcutaneous and intranasal routes (complete absence of human safety data): Because every human study of Pinealon used oral capsules, nobody has studied the human safety of injecting Pinealon subcutaneously or spraying it into the nose.
Single-network authorship bias: Nearly all published human and preclinical research on Pinealon comes from a single research network—Vladimir Khavinson's St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology and collaborating Russian gerontology departments. Independent replication by neurology groups outside Russia and Eastern Europe is completely absent.

4. Regulatory and compounding status

Jurisdiction / Body	Current Status	Details
United States (FDA — Drugs & Compounding)	Not FDA-approved; not on 503A or 503B Lists	Pinealon (EDR) is not an FDA-approved drug, has no USP/NF monograph, and does not appear in Category 1 on either the FDA 503A Bulk Drug Substances List (updated May 14, 2026) or the 503B List (updated Mar 21, 2025). US compounding pharmacies cannot legally compound injectable or nasal Pinealon for human prescriptions. ^R11
European Union & United Kingdom (EMA / MHRA)	Not approved as a medicine	No marketing authorization exists in the EU or UK for Pinealon as a medicinal product.
Russia & Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)	Oral dietary supplement (BAD), not a prescription drug	Marketed in Russia and the EAEU as an over-the-counter biologically active food additive (`БАД Пинеалон`, oral capsules containing the EDR peptide complex), not as an approved prescription pharmaceutical in the State Register of Medicines (GRLS) `[UNVERIFIED: Russian GRLS drug registry blocks automated queries from this environment]`.
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA 2026)	Not named on the 2026 Prohibited List; Section S0 applies to unapproved drug use	Neither Pinealon nor EDR is named in the 2026 Prohibited List index. However, competitive athletes using unapproved injectable Pinealon face risk under Section S0 (Non-Approved Substances), which prohibits at all times any pharmacological substance with no current approval by any governmental regulatory health authority for human therapeutic use. ^R12

5. Quality, contamination, and gray-market risks

Oral Russian dietary supplements vs Western injectable vials: The Russian commercial product (Pinealon Lingual or Pinealon capsules) is a low-strength oral supplement taken by mouth. Western research-peptide websites sell multi-milligram lyophilized vials intended for subcutaneous injection—delivering systemic exposures many times higher than anything ever given by mouth in Russian studies, with zero human pharmacokinetic or toxicology data.
Sequence confusion among Khavinson short peptides: Because gray-market vendors sell half a dozen 3- and 4-amino-acid Khavinson peptides with similar names—Pinealon (EDR), Vesugen (KED), Cartalax (AED), Chonluten (EDG), Ovagen (EDL), Bronchogen (AEDL), and Cardiogen (AEDR)—all as identical white powders in unverified vials, mislabeling or cross-contamination can only be caught by amino-acid sequencing or LC-MS/MS testing.
Sterility and endotoxin hazards: Lyophilized vials sold "for research use only" are not manufactured under sterile pharmaceutical Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) controls and may contain bacterial endotoxin or trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) synthesis residues.

6. Who should be especially cautious

Patients with Alzheimer's disease, dementia, stroke, or traumatic brain injury (and their caregivers): Preclinical papers showing dendritic-spine changes in Alzheimer's mice ^R7 have never been tested in human dementia patients; relying on gray-market Pinealon in place of evidence-based neurological care carries real opportunity costs and unknown injection risks.
Anyone considering subcutaneous or intranasal Pinealon: Neither route has ever been tested in a published human study.
Tested athletes: Unapproved injectable bioregulator peptides risk violating WADA's S0 Non-Approved Substances rule. ^R12
Pregnant or breastfeeding women and children: No human safety data exist in pregnancy, lactation, or pediatrics (despite one rat pregnancy experiment ^R10).

7. Open questions and research gaps

Can a 3-amino-acid peptide survive human digestion or cross the human blood-brain barrier intact? Glutamate-aspartate-arginine (EDR) is made of three standard dietary amino acids cleaved by gut and blood peptidases (PEPT1 transporters can absorb some di- and tripeptides, but intact human blood and cerebrospinal fluid levels after oral or subcutaneous dosing have never been published).
Will an independent research group ever run a double-blind placebo-controlled trial? Until a pre-registered, double-blind, placebo-controlled human trial outside the developer network tests solo Pinealon with validated cognitive endpoints, it remains unproven whether EDR acts differently from a placebo or ordinary dietary amino acids.

8. References

^R1 Meshchaninov VN, Tkachenko EL, Zharkov SV, Gavrilov IV, Katyreva IuE. [Effect of synthetic peptides on the biochemical indicators of patients with organic brain syndrome in involution]. Klin Med (Mosk). 2015;93(3):62–65. PMID 26390612
^R2 Myakotnykh VS, Torgashov MN, Borovkova TA, et al. [Clinical and physiological aspects of restorative treatment of elderly patients with initial manifestations of cerebral atherosclerosis and stress-associated pathology]. Adv Gerontol (Usp Gerontol). 2016;29(2):297–304. PMID 28539017
^R3 Bashkireva AS, Artamonova VG. [Peptide correction of neurotic states in truck drivers]. Adv Gerontol (Usp Gerontol). 2012;25(4):718–728. PMID 23734521
^R4 Nazimko VA, Kozina LS, Arutjunyan AV. [Prevention of accelerated aging in workers of locomotive brigades]. Adv Gerontol (Usp Gerontol). 2012;25(2):349–353. PMID 22708445
^R5 Khavinson V, Popovich IG, Linkova NS, Mironova ES, Ilina AR. Peptide Regulation of Gene Expression: A Systematic Review (and Khavinson V, Ribakova Y, Kulebiakin K, et al., Pinealon / EDR clinical and molecular review, Clin Interv Aging. 2020;15:2301–2310). Clin Interv Aging. 2020;15:2301–2310. PMID 33396470 · PMC7737544 · doi:10.2147/CIA.S277809
^R6 Umnov RS, Lin'kova NS, Khavinson VKh. [Neuroprotective effects of peptides bioregulators in people of various ages]. Adv Gerontol (Usp Gerontol). 2013;26(4):671–678. PMID 24738258
^R7 Kraskovskaya NA, Lin'kova NS, Khavinson VKh, et al. Tripeptide EDR Restores the Pool of Postsynaptic Spines in Hippocampal Neurons in Models of Alzheimer's Disease In Vitro and In Vivo. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2017;163(4):550–553. PMID 28853087 · doi:10.1007/s10517-017-3842-2
^R8 Kraskovskaya N, Linkova N, Sakhenberg E, Krieger D, Khavinson V. Neuroprotective Effect of Tripeptides in Modeling Baseline Structural and Functional Disorders of Neurons in Alzheimer's Disease In Vitro. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2024;177(6):766–770. PMID 39518916 · doi:10.1007/s10517-024-06266-x
^R9 Khavinson VKh, Ribakova YK, Kulebiakin KY, et al. Pinealon increases cell viability by suppression of free radical levels and activating proliferative processes. Rejuvenation Res. 2011;14(5):535–541. PMID 21978084 · doi:10.1089/rej.2011.1172
^R10 Arutjunyan AV, Kozina LS, Stvolinskiy SL, Bulygina ER, Mashkina AP, Khavinson VKh. Pinealon protects the rat offspring from prenatal hyperhomocysteinemia. Int J Clin Exp Med. 2012;5(2):179–185. PMID 22567179 · PMC3342712
^R11 US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 503A Bulk Drug Substances List (updated May 14, 2026) and 503B Bulk Drug Substances List (updated Mar 21, 2025).
^R12 World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). 2026 Prohibited List — International Standard, Section S0 (Non-Approved Substances; effective Jan 1, 2026).

Disclaimer

This page is for education and harm reduction. It is not medical advice and not a recommendation to use this compound. Please talk to a clinician you trust before making medical decisions, and report adverse events to FDA MedWatch (https://www.fda.gov/safety/medwatch).