LTP·01learntopeptide
Longevity & bioregulatorsEvidence D3 cited

Vilon

aka Vilon bioregulator · Lys-Glu dipeptide · KE peptide

Vilon is a synthetic dipeptide consisting of lysine and glutamic acid (Lys-Glu), developed by Professor Vladimir Khavinson as a bioregulator peptide targeting the thymus gland. The thymus is the primary organ responsible for T-cell maturation and plays a critical role in adaptive immune function. With aging, the thymus undergoes involution, leading to progressive immunosenescence characterised by declining T-cell diversity and impaired immune surveillance. Vilon is proposed to modulate thymic gene expression, potentially restoring aspects of thymic function and supporting T-cell differentiation. As a dipeptide bioregulator, it represents the smallest functional unit in the Khavinson bioregulation framework, theorised to interact with DNA to normalise immune gene expression.

Molecular wt
275.30g/mol
Formula
C11H21N3O5
CAS
45234-02-4
Half-life
1 h
estimated
Tmax
1 h
Route
Oral or subcutaneous
PubChem
7010502

Sequence

One-letter2 residues

KE

Three-letter

Lys-Glu

Read this before quoting the sequence
Dipeptide L-lysyl-L-glutamic acid. PubChem's Lysylglutamic acid record (CID 7010502) carries 'Vilon' and 'Peptide vilon' among its synonyms, so the name-to-structure mapping is registry-supported here (unlike Vesugen). KE is also identified by the originating group as one of the two active dipeptides of the thymus extract Thymalin.
Source ↗

Mechanism of action

Vilon (Lys-Glu) is theorised to penetrate cell membranes and interact with DNA sequences in thymic epithelial cells, modulating expression of genes involved in T-cell development and thymic microenvironment maintenance. This interaction may influence chromatin condensation and transcriptional activity, potentially restoring age-related decline in thymopoiesis. The peptide may promote differentiation of T-cell precursors, enhance thymic epithelial cell function, and support maintenance of T-cell receptor diversity.

What the evidence actually shows

Grade D

Evidence for Vilon is derived almost entirely from preclinical studies and observational reports from Russian clinical practice. In vitro studies have demonstrated that the Lys-Glu dipeptide can influence gene expression in immune cell cultures. Animal studies have shown some evidence of immune modulation. No controlled human clinical trials meeting international standards have been published.

Regulatory status

Status
Not an approved medicine in the US or EU (no Drugs@FDA record, no DailyMed SPL, no EMA authorisation located). Sold as a 'peptide bioregulator' / supplement.
Clinical stage
No ClinicalTrials.gov-registered trials identified. PubMed indexes roughly 60 records mentioning Vilon, but they are dominated by in vitro and animal work from a single research group and by Russian-language journals (Advances in Gerontology / Uspekhi Gerontologii) that are not independently replicated.
WADA
Not named on the WADA 2026 Prohibited List.
Source ↗

Pharmacokinetics

Half-life
1 h
Tmax
1 h
Absorption
subcutaneous
Elimination
renal
Washout
1 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

Vilon (the dipeptide Lys-Glu, KE) has published animal dosing - 10 microg/kg in mice in a chemical carcinogenesis model, plus intranasal and oral rat studies with no stated dose - and at least one Russian-language human report in elderly type 1 diabetes patients (PMID 18306698) that states no dose. No human dosing regimen for Vilon is retrievable from any indexed source.

PreclinicalAnimal studies — not a human dose

  • 10 microg/kg

    mice · not stated in the retrievable abstract · PMID 16308980

  • Intranasal Vilon (dose not stated in the retrievable abstract)

    Wistar rats · intranasal · PMID 18264770

  • Per os administration for 1 month (dose not stated in the retrievable abstract)

    aged Wistar rats · oral · PMID 12660839

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 approved product and no regulatory label anywhere; no compound-specific stability data in any indexed publication. Ported storage text ('-20C ~24 months lyophilised; 2-8C ~4 weeks reconstituted') is generic peptide-handling boilerplate that was applied identically across many compounds in this dataset. It is not sourced to this compound. 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.lyophilized, storage.reconstituted, storage.lightSensitive, reconstitution.solvent

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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