What it is
Epithalon is a peptide made of 4 amino acids. It is made in a lab. Vladimir Khavinson and his team in St. Petersburg, Russia built it. It was designed to copy epithalamin, an extract taken from cow pineal glands. The pineal gland is the small gland in the brain that makes melatonin. Almost all research on Epithalon comes from this one group. Other names: Epitalon, Epithalone, AEDG.
What researchers study it for
- Telomerase in human cells
- Telomere length
- Melatonin rhythm in old animals
- Lifespan in animals
- Gene activity
What the studies found
1. Human cells made more telomerase and grew longer telomeres.
Telomeres are the end caps on chromosomes. They get shorter each time a cell divides, and when they get too short the cell stops dividing. Telomerase is the enzyme that adds length back. In a 2003 study, human fetal cells treated with Epithalon had 2.4 times more telomerase activity, telomeres about 33 percent longer, and kept dividing past their normal limit. Lab cells only. Most cancer cells also use telomerase, so long-term safety is an open question.
2. The extract it copies made female fruit flies live longer. Males did not.
This 1997 study tested epithalamin, the cow pineal extract, not Epithalon. It was added to fruit fly food. Female flies lived 17 percent longer on average, and the longest-lived females lived 14 percent longer. Male flies showed no change. Markers of oxidation damage also dropped in the treated females.
3. The developers report longer life in mice and restored hormone rhythms in old monkeys.
This review comes from the group that built Epithalon. It reports that epithalamin extended lifespan in mice and flies. It also reports that it restored the daily rise and fall of melatonin and cortisol in old rhesus monkeys. Most of these results were from the extract, and all came from the same research group.
4. Nearly all the research comes from one lab.
This 2010 review sums up about 20 years of the group's work on pineal peptides and aging. It covers animal lifespan, melatonin, and immune results. The authors are the scientists who developed the compound. No independent lab has published a repeat of these results.
5. No study has measured how long it stays in the blood.
A 2025 review found very few chemical or structural studies of Epithalon. Short peptides like it usually break down fast in the body. No study has measured its time in the blood in any animal or person. Any number you see online is a guess.
How much research exists
Many papers, almost all from one Russian research group. Most are in Russian journals. No independent repeat studies. No controlled human trial has been published in a Western journal.
Facts
- Formula: C14H22N4O9
- Weight: 390.4 g/mol
- CAS number: 307297-39-8
- Sequence: Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly
- Time in the blood: never measured
- Storage: freeze the dry powder. Keep mixed solution in the fridge.
Legal status
Not approved by the FDA or any other agency for human use. Banned in sports by WADA under section S0, which covers drugs not approved for human use.
For research use only. Not for human use. Nothing here is medical advice.