Epitalon
Alanyl-glutamyl-aspartyl-glycine (AEDG tetrapeptide) · Epithalon · Epithalone · AEDG · Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly
Pineal-derived tetrapeptide studied for telomerase activation and circadian regulation.
Typical dose
10 mg
Once daily during a course
Range
5–10
mg
Half-life
—
see Dosing
Evidence
Early human
Subcutaneous · Intramuscular · Intranasal
What it is
Epitalon is a four-amino-acid peptide (Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly) developed by Vladimir Khavinson's group in St Petersburg and patented by him in 2001 (RU 2161501); the peptide-bioregulator programme it came from dates to the 1970s. It was built to copy the active fragment of epithalamin, a crude bovine pineal gland extract that had been used in Soviet geriatric medicine, and it is the best known of the Khavinson "peptide bioregulators".
The evidence base is unusual and needs stating plainly: nearly all of it comes from one research group over four decades. That work includes rodent lifespan and tumour-incidence studies, cell culture showing telomerase induction, and a 6-8 year cohort of 266 elderly Russian patients reporting a 1.6-1.8-fold mortality reduction — though that study used Epithalamin and Thymalin, the crude gland extracts, not the synthetic Epitalon tetrapeptide. Independent replication outside that group is thin, and there is no modern randomised controlled trial by Western standards.
Users should not expect an acute effect. Unlike a GH secretagogue or a fat-loss peptide, Epitalon produces nothing you can feel within a session. Reported effects are slow and subjective — mainly sleep depth and circadian normalisation — and the headline telomere claim is not something a user can verify without lab testing.
How it works
In cultured human fibroblasts, Epitalon induces expression of hTERT, the catalytic subunit of telomerase, and cells treated with it show longer telomeres and extended replicative capacity. The proposed mechanism is direct interaction with promoter regions of DNA, changing the transcription of a small set of genes rather than binding a cell-surface receptor. Separately, it appears to restore age-degraded melatonin secretion rhythm in the pineal gland of old animals.
The honest caveat: telomerase induction in a dish is a long way from slowed ageing in a person. Telomere length in humans is only loosely coupled to healthspan, and no study has shown Epitalon lengthening telomeres in living humans. The circadian and antioxidant effects are on firmer ground than the telomere story.
Dosing
The 5-10 mg daily x 10-20 day course is community convention scaled from the Epithalamin protocol, not a published Epitalon dose — Khavinson's own human Epitalon studies used 0.5 mg/day sublingually for 20 days and 5 mcg per eye parabulbarly. At 5-10 mg daily for 10-20 days a course consumes 50-200 mg total, so budget vials accordingly. A minority run a low continuous protocol of 250 mcg-1 mg daily instead; that pattern has no published basis.
Reconstitution calculator
Pre-loaded with Epitalon’s vial size, water volume and typical dose. Change anything.
Typical: 10 mg · range 5–10
Draw to
100 u
1 mL · 10 mg
Concentration
10 mg/mL
100 mcg per unit
Doses per vial
1
Vial lasts
1 day
CheckThe draw fills more than 90% of the barrel. Workable, but there is no room for an air bubble or a correction.
Once mixed
Refrigerate at 2-8 C and use within 3-4 weeks; do not freeze reconstituted solution.
1 mL of bacteriostatic water into a 10 mg vial gives 10 mg/mL, so a full 10 mg dose is 1 mL (100 units) — a large subcutaneous volume that many people split into two shots or halve to 5 mg twice daily. Aim the stream down the vial wall and swirl; do not shake.
Storage
Before mixing
Refrigerated at 2-8 C the sealed powder is stable for around 24 months; it tolerates ambient shipping temperatures for a few weeks.
After mixing
Refrigerate at 2-8 C and use within 3-4 weeks; do not freeze reconstituted solution.
Reported benefits
- ▪Induces telomerase (hTERT) and telomere elongation in cultured human cells
- ▪Restored age-degraded melatonin rhythm in animal models
- ▪Increased maximum lifespan by 12.3% in SHR mice, with mean lifespan unchanged
- ▪Did not change total spontaneous tumour incidence in the same mice, but reduced leukaemia 6-fold and chromosome aberrations in bone marrow by 17.1%
- ▪Commonly reported subjective improvement in sleep depth and consistency
- ▪Antioxidant and antimutagenic activity in vitro
Side effects
- ▪Very little reported in the literature; the human safety record is observational, not trial-derived
- ▪Injection-site redness or transient stinging
- ▪Drowsiness and unusually vivid dreams, most often with evening dosing
- ▪Occasional mild headache in the first days of a course
- ▪Theoretical concern that systemic telomerase activation could support survival of pre-existing malignant clones; in the SHR mouse study total tumour incidence was unchanged (leukaemia specifically fell 6-fold), which is reassuring but is not evidence of protection, and no human oncological safety data exists
Do not use if
- ▪Active or recently treated malignancy, on the theoretical telomerase argument
- ▪Pregnancy and breastfeeding — no data at all
- ▪Known hypersensitivity to the peptide or to benzyl alcohol in bacteriostatic water
Evidence level — Early human
Small or early-phase human studies only.
Not approved by the FDA or EMA; sold as a research chemical in most markets, though related peptide bioregulators are registered as medicines in Russia.
Commonly run with
MOTS-c
Mitochondrial-encoded peptide studied for insulin sensitivity and exercise capacity.
5 mg · 3x per week
SS-31
Cardiolipin-binding mitochondrial peptide, FDA-approved as elamipretide for Barth syndrome.
10 mg · Once daily
Humanin
First mitochondrial-derived peptide discovered, studied for cytoprotection and metabolism.
1 mg · 3x per week
Thymosin Alpha-1
Thymic peptide that tunes T-cell function; licensed abroad as thymalfasin for hepatitis B.
1600 mcg · 2x weekly, spaced 3-4 days apart
Epitalon FAQ
Will Epitalon actually lengthen my telomeres?+
There is no human study showing telomere lengthening from injected Epitalon. The telomerase and telomere data come from cultured human cell lines and animal work. If telomere length matters to you, measure it before and after rather than assuming.
Why is it dosed in courses instead of continuously?+
The entire Khavinson protocol was built around short intensive courses — 10 to 20 days, two or three times a year — rather than daily use. The rationale is that the peptide changes gene expression that then persists, so continuous exposure is not needed. Continuous low-dose protocols circulating online are a community invention with no published support.
Can I feel it working?+
Most people feel nothing beyond sleep changes, and even that is inconsistent. Anyone promising a noticeable energy or wellbeing effect within days is selling something. Treat the absence of acute effect as expected, not as bad product.
Is intranasal as good as injection?+
Some Khavinson bioregulator protocols use intranasal delivery, but bioavailability by that route is unquantified for Epitalon and will be far below injection. Subcutaneous is what almost all the community dosing conventions assume.
References
- 1.Epithalon peptide induces telomerase activity and telomere elongation in human somatic cells — Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine (2003) PMID 12937682
- 2.Effect of Epitalon on biomarkers of aging, life span and spontaneous tumor incidence in female Swiss-derived SHR mice — Biogerontology (2003) PMID 14501183
- 3.Peptides of pineal gland and thymus prolong human life — Neuroendocrinology Letters (2003) PMID 14523363
- 4.Overview of Epitalon-Highly Bioactive Pineal Tetrapeptide with Promising Properties — International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2025) PMID 40141333
More longevity & mitochondrial
Humanin
First mitochondrial-derived peptide discovered, studied for cytoprotection and metabolism.
1 mg · 3x per week
MOTS-c
Mitochondrial-encoded peptide studied for insulin sensitivity and exercise capacity.
5 mg · 3x per week
SS-31
Cardiolipin-binding mitochondrial peptide, FDA-approved as elamipretide for Barth syndrome.
10 mg · Once daily