What it is
Cardiogen is a peptide made of 4 amino acids: alanine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, and arginine. It is made in a lab. It comes from Vladimir Khavinson's group in St. Petersburg, Russia. The group assigns each of its short peptides to one organ. Cardiogen is assigned to the heart. The group says these peptides enter cells and change which genes turn on. See the Epithalon and Pinealon entries for related compounds. Other names: AEDR, Ala-Glu-Asp-Arg.
What researchers study it for
- Heart tissue growth in lab cultures from young and old rats
- p53, a protein that tells damaged cells to die
- Tumor growth in old rats
- Whether each short peptide only acts on its assigned organ
- How short peptides get into cells
What the studies found
1. Heart tissue from young and old rats grew more cells.
A 2009 study grew small pieces of rat heart tissue in a dish. The pieces came from 3-month-old and 24-month-old rats. Cardiogen made cells divide more in both age groups. It also lowered p53. The authors say this means fewer cells were set to die. Lab tissue from rats only.
2. Each of four short peptides worked only on its assigned organ.
A 2006 study tested four peptides on tissue from four organs of young and old rats. Cardiogen made heart tissue grow. The lung peptide made lung tissue grow. The prostate and pancreas peptides did the same for their organs. This is the main study behind the group's claim that each peptide targets one organ. No outside lab has repeated it. Lab tissue from rats only.
3. It slowed tumor growth in old rats by killing the tumor's blood supply.
A 2009 study gave Cardiogen to old rats with transplanted sarcoma tumors. Higher amounts slowed tumor growth more. The tumors developed areas of dead tissue from bleeding. More tumor cells died. It did not stop tumor cells from dividing directly, so the authors think it acted on the tumor's blood vessels. Rat data only.
4. Computer models show it could enter cells through transport proteins.
Cells use transport proteins to pull in amino acids and small peptides. A 2023 computer study tested how well 26 short peptides fit three of these transport proteins. Cardiogen was one of the best fits. This offers a possible way it gets inside cells. Computer data only.
How much research exists
A few lab and rat studies, some in Russian. All come from Russian research groups, mostly Khavinson's. No human study of any kind has been published.
Facts
- Formula: C18H31N7O9
- Weight: about 489 g/mol
- CAS number: none found
- Sequence: Ala-Glu-Asp-Arg
- Time in the blood: never measured
- Storage: powder in the freezer.
Legal status
Not approved by the FDA or any other agency for human use.
For research use only. Not for human use. Nothing here is medical advice.