Pinealon
A three-amino-acid peptide (Glu-Asp-Arg) sold in Russia as a nootropic. The mechanism literature — actoprotective, cognitive, endocrine — is the most internally consistent in the Khavinson corpus; the human-trial evidence is still thin.
1 · Identity
- Formula
- C15H26N6O8
- PubChem CID
- 10273502
- InChIKey
- QPRZKNOOOBWXSU-CIUDSAMLSA-N
- Aliases
- EDR tripeptide (EN); Pinealonum (EN); Пинеалон (RU_LATIN)
2 · Mechanism — what the primary literature actually shows
Synthetic tripeptide Glu-Asp-Arg (EDR). Three documented mechanism domains: (1) actoprotective — rats treadmill-to-exhaustion after 2 weeks of pinealon comparable to metaprot with cardiovascular/respiratory changes (Belyaeva 2015); (2) cognitive — rhesus monkeys Macaca mulatta, pinealon restores age-related cognitive decline, with prefrontal cortex particularly responsive (Kuznetsova-Golubeva-Trofimova-Khavinson-Shuvaev 2019); (3) antioxidant/gene-regulation — streptozotocin-diabetes rat model, pinealon (and cortexin) modulates free-radical processes and SOD1, GPX4, GSR gene expression in hippocampus (Karandysh 2021). The Pineamine® multicentre RCT (Prilepskaya 2016) tested pinealon-like peptide for climacteric syndrome — double-blind placebo-controlled.
How it works
Key findings (6)
- Rats, treadmill-to-exhaustion after 2 weeks of pinealon: actoprotective effect comparable to metaprot (Belyaeva-Davydova-Erofeev-Maydan-Ryzhak 2015)
- Rhesus monkeys Macaca mulatta: pinealon rehabilitates age-related cognitive decline; prefrontal cortex particularly responsive (Kuznetsova 2019)
- Streptozotocin-diabetes rats: pinealon and cortexin modulate free-radical processes and SOD1/GPX4/GSR gene expression in hippocampus — first mechanistic gene-level finding for pinealon (Karandysh 2021)
- Diabetes mellitus in vitro blood + hyperbaric oxygenation: pinealon + cortexin correct free-radical processes at different HbA1c levels (Fomenko 2018)
- High-performance athletes: pinealon increases reserve capacity of the organism (Lysenko 2012)
- Climacteric syndrome: Pineamine® (pinealon-related) double-blind placebo-controlled multicentre RCT in women — neuro-vegetative and psycho-emotional improvements (Prilepskaya 2016)
Evidence quality
Strong — this is one of the best-documented Khavinson peptides. Has clinical RCT data (Pineamine), primate cognition data (Macaca mulatta), and molecular mechanism (gene expression in hippocampus). Still Russian-only.
Open questions (4)
- Why does pinealon have both actoprotective AND cognitive effects? Is this the same mechanism or different?
- Rhesus monkey cognition result — replication by independent lab needed
- Pineamine® vs pinealon: are they identical? Registry says pineamine is the registered drug form, pinealon is the peptide sequence
- HbA1c-dependence of antioxidant effect in diabetes model — dose-response curve
3 · Summary
Design distribution
| Design | Count | Distribution |
|---|---|---|
| CONTROLLED | 1 | █ |
| CLINICAL_UNCONTROLLED | 4 | ████ |
| ANIMAL | 4 | ████ |
| IN_VITRO | 2 | ██ |
| UNGRADED | 3 | ███ |
4 · Possible mechanisms — candidate list
5 · Pathways — questions the corpus does not yet answer
- Pathway
- Experimental design: falsification experiment for open question 1. Why does pinealon have both actoprotective AND cognitive effects? Is this the same mechanism or different?
- Blocked by
- See synthesis evidence quality section for barriers.
- Pathway
- Experimental design: falsification experiment for open question 2. Rhesus monkey cognition result — replication by independent lab needed
- Blocked by
- See synthesis evidence quality section for barriers.
- Pathway
- Experimental design: falsification experiment for open question 3. Pineamine® vs pinealon: are they identical? Registry says pineamine is the registered drug form, pinealon is the peptide sequence
- Blocked by
- See synthesis evidence quality section for barriers.
- Pathway
- Experimental design: falsification experiment for open question 4. HbA1c-dependence of antioxidant effect in diabetes model — dose-response curve
- Blocked by
- See synthesis evidence quality section for barriers.
6 · Bibliography — Russian primary sources
- issledovanie-aktoprotektornyh-svoystv-tripeptida-pinealona
- vliyanie-pinealona-na-rezervnye-vozmozhnosti-organizma-vysokokvalifitsirovannyh-sportsmenov
- vliyanie-tripeptida-pinealona-na-reabilitatsiyu-kognitivnyh-funktsiy-v-protsesse-stareniya-na-primere-makak-rezusov-macaca-mulatta
- primenenie-pinealona-i-korteksina-dlya-korrektsii-okislitelnogo-stressa-v-krovi-bolnyh-saharnym-diabetom-v-modelnoy-sisteme
- vliyanie-peptidnyh-bioregulyatorov-na-svobodnoradikalnye-protsessy-i-uroven-ekspressii-genov-sod1-gpx4-i-gsr-v-gippokampe-u-krys-v
- novoe-v-profilaktike-i-terapii-klimaktericheskogo-sindroma
- klimaktericheskiy-sindrom-innovatsii-v-menopauzalnoy-terapii
- uspeshnoe-lechenie-pervichnogo-gipogonadizma-na-fone-perenesennoy-novoy-koronavirusnoy-infektsii-covid-19-klinicheskoe-nablyudenie
- novyy-terapevticheskiy-podhod-v-lechenii-prezhdevremennoy-nedostatochnosti-yaichnikov-u-zhenschin-reproduktivnogo-vozrasta-s
Inventor (detail): V.Kh. Khavinson lab (deconvolution of pineal-gland fraction; the EDR sequence is reported in Morozov-Khavinson 2000s methodology). | V.Kh. Khavinson lab (clinical program led by V.N. Prilepskaya, Scientific Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology).
First publication: synthetic tripeptide, structurally derived from Pinealon is described in late-1990s/early-2000s Khavinson group papers; first dedicated Russian primary citation in CyberLeninka index is 2012 (Lysenko, athletes study). | mid-2010s clinical material; the multicenter RCT behind the label is Prilepskaya 2016.
Peptide kind: **Synthetic tripeptide** (Glu-Asp-Arg, "EDR"), 3 amino acid residues. | **Polypeptide fraction** from pineal gland (porcine); 10 mg i.m. once daily ×10 days. Do NOT confuse with Epithalamin (calf) or AEDG (synthetic tetrapeptide) — Pineamine is the modern registered drug of the pineal class, distinct from the older Epithalamin extract.
Below: substantive excerpts from 6 Russian primary papers. Click each title to expand the Russian/English abstract.
6/6 papers with substantive abstracts · 12,821 characters of Russian/English pharmacological text extracted · 6 Russian abstracts · 4 English abstracts · 5/6 relevance-classified.
Extracted findings (2 models · 8 mechanism terms · direction: ↑5 ↓4 ↺0 across 6 papers)
- Model organisms
- in vitro
- Doses / concentrations
- 100 нг, 20 нг, 200 нг
- Mechanism terms
- антиоксидантной, антиоксидантных, гиппокампе, кортексин, кортексина, экспрессией генов, экспрессии гена, экспрессии генов
- Effect direction
- 5× increase · 4× decrease · 0× restoration/normalisation
[2015] Исследование актопротекторных свойств трипептида пинеалона
[2012] Влияние Пинеалона на резервные возможности организма высококвалифицированных спортсменов
[2019] Влияние трипептида Пинеалона на реабилитацию когнитивных функций в процессе старения на примере макак-резусов (Macaca mu
[2018] Применение пинеалона и кортексина для коррекции окислительного стресса в крови больных сахарным диабетом в модельной сис
[2021] ВЛИЯНИЕ ПЕПТИДНЫХ БИОРЕГУЛЯТОРОВ НА СВОБОДНОРАДИКАЛЬНЫЕ ПРОЦЕССЫ И УРОВЕНЬ ЭКСПРЕССИИ ГЕНОВ SOD1, GPX4 И GSR В ГИППОКАМП
[2016] Новое в профилактике и терапии климактерического синдрома
7 · Bibliography — PubMed corpus
8 · Corroboration
- Corpus source
- PubMed (eutils) and OpenAlex, swept against this compound by PMID. Last verified 26.08.2026.
- Identity source
- PubChem CID 10273502 verified live. InChIKey QPRZKNOOOBWXSU-CIUDSAMLSA-N. Live fetch on 26.08.2026.
- Provenance
- St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology (2002) Khavinson VKh — Synthetic pineal tripeptide; cognitive function
9 · Open questions
- Zero A- or B-grade evidence in the corpus. No registered RCT with disclosed n.
- Most of the published evidence for this compound is from the group that developed it. Where independent replication exists, we flag it in the mechanism block above; where it doesn't, treat mechanism claims as developer-side.