LTP·01learntopeptide
Longevity & bioregulatorsEvidence D3 cited

Cortagen

aka Cortagen bioregulator · adrenal cortex peptide

Cortagen is a short synthetic bioregulator peptide developed by Professor Vladimir Khavinson and the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology. It is designed to target the adrenal cortex, supporting the regulation of cortisol production and adrenal gland function. Bioregulator peptides are based on the concept that short peptide sequences derived from or mimicking endogenous tissue-specific peptides can restore gene expression patterns in aging or damaged tissues. Cortagen is proposed to normalise adrenal cortex function by interacting with DNA and modulating transcription of genes involved in steroidogenesis. While the bioregulator concept has theoretical appeal, the evidence base consists primarily of preclinical studies and observational reports from Russian clinical practice.

Molecular wt
430.4g/mol
Formula
C17H26N4O9
CAS
335591-03-2
Half-life
2 h
estimated
Tmax
1 h
Route
Oral or subcutaneous
PubChem
18439621

Sequence

One-letter4 residues

AEDP

Three-letter

Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro

Read this before quoting the sequence
Synthetic tetrapeptide derived by directed synthesis from the amino-acid analysis of Cortexin, a bovine brain-cortex peptide preparation. Sequence stated explicitly in the peer-reviewed literature: 'The synthetic tetrapeptide Cortagen (Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro)' (Anisimov 2004, PMID 15159690). PubChem CID 18439621's IUPAC name is consistent (Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro with a free C-terminal proline carboxyl).
Source ↗

Mechanism of action

Cortagen is theorised to function through the bioregulation paradigm developed by Khavinson, in which short peptides (typically 2-4 amino acids) interact with specific DNA sequences to modulate gene expression in target tissues. For Cortagen, the proposed target is the adrenal cortex, where it is believed to normalise transcription of genes involved in cortisol synthesis, aldosterone production, and adrenal stress response. The peptide may influence chromatin structure and accessibility, potentially restoring youthful gene expression patterns in aging adrenal tissue.

What the evidence actually shows

Grade D

Evidence for Cortagen is extremely limited and consists primarily of preclinical studies and reports from Russian clinical practice that have not been independently replicated in Western peer-reviewed journals. The bioregulator peptide concept has some theoretical support, but specific clinical trial data for Cortagen in humans is sparse. No randomised controlled trials meeting international standards have been published.

Regulatory status

Status
Not approved as a medicine in any jurisdiction identified. No entry in Drugs@FDA or the EMA medicines register.
Clinical stage
Preclinical/early research only. All retrievable primary literature is Russian-group animal and in vitro work (Khavinson group, 2000-2005). No registered controlled human trials identified.
WADA
Not named anywhere on the WADA 2026 Prohibited List. However S0 (Non-Approved Substances) prohibits at all times 'any pharmacological substance which is not addressed by any of the subsequent sections of the List and with no current approval by any governmental regulatory health authority for human therapeutic use', which on its face covers Cortagen.
Source ↗

Pharmacokinetics

Half-life
2 h
Tmax
1 h
Absorption
subcutaneous
Elimination
renal
Washout
2 days
Low-confidence pharmacokinetics
These figures are recorded as estimated rather than measured in a published PK study. Treat them as an order of magnitude. Anything downstream of them — accumulation, steady state, washout — inherits that uncertainty.

Dosing — what backs each figure

Cortagen is a synthetic tetrapeptide (Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro) derived from the bovine brain-cortex extract Cortexin, studied almost entirely in Russian-language rodent and cell work; there is no registered clinical trial and no published human dosing regimen we could retrieve. Any human dose figure circulating for Cortagen is unsourced.

PreclinicalAnimal studies — not a human dose

  • Acute course of Cortagen (Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro) treatment followed by whole-transcriptome microarray analysis of heart tissue; the dose and schedule are not stated in the abstract

    mouse · not stated in abstract (parenteral) · PMID 15159690

  • Injections of epithalon and cortagen reduced lipid-peroxidation products and oxidative protein modification in serum and cerebral cortex; dose not stated in abstract

    rat · injection (route not specified in abstract) · PMID 18239817

  • Cortagen tested alongside cortexin for recovery of behaviour and lipid peroxidation in chronic cerebral ischaemia; dose not stated in abstract

    rat (ischaemia model) · not stated in abstract · PMID 21476278

Animal doses do not convert to human doses by body weight alone. Route matters too — a compound dosed intraperitoneally in mice tells you little about subcutaneous use.

No established human dose
No approved label or completed human trial establishes a dosing regimen for this compound. Anything presented as a standard protocol for it — anywhere — is someone's convention rather than a finding.

Handling and storage

No compound-specific stability data exists
No compound-specific storage data exists in any regulatory label, pharmacopoeia or published stability study that could be retrieved. Cortagen has no marketing authorisation, so no approved-product storage specification exists. Only generic lyophilised-peptide handling guidance would apply. General peptide handling still applies — reconstitute gently, keep it cold, keep it dark — but any specific figure you see quoted for this compound elsewhere is someone's assumption, not a measurement.
→ Reconstitution walkthrough→ Reconstitution calculator

Safety

References (3)

Data provenance

Chemistry and citations on this page were checked against primary sources on 2026-08-14. Values that could not be verified were left blank rather than filled with a plausible guess.

Could not verify
storage, reconstitution

Research use only
This profile is educational reference material. It is not medical advice, not a prescription, and not an endorsement of self-administration. Compounds discussed here are research chemicals and most are not approved for human therapeutic use.

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