Semax & Selank in Canada: Russian Brain Peptides vs. the Studies
Sam · Popular Peptides Canada ·
Semax and Selank were both developed at a Moscow institute. Semax is a fragment of ACTH (4-10) with Pro-Gly-Pro added to make it last longer; Selank is built on tuftsin, a small immune-system peptide, with the same addition. Both are prescription nose drops in Russia, and Semax has been on Russia’s essential medicines list since 2011, but Health Canada, the FDA and the European Medicines Agency have never approved either one. In rats, Semax raised BDNF, a brain growth factor; in rodents, Selank changed the activity of GABA-related genes. The human studies are small and mostly published in Russian.
Real medicines in Russia. Thin evidence anywhere else.
Scores = our read of the published studies, not medical advice.
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Full transcript
[0:00]Semax and Selank get sold online as brain peptides for focus and calm. Are they approved anywhere? Actually, yes. Just not here. Let’s look.
[0:11]Both were developed at a Moscow institute. Semax is a small piece of ACTH, a stress hormone, with three amino acids added to make it last longer. Selank is built on tuftsin, a tiny peptide from the immune system, with the same trick.
[0:25]In Russia, both are prescription medicines, given as nose drops. Semax has been on Russia’s essential medicines list since 2011. But Health Canada, the FDA and Europe’s regulator have never approved either one.
[0:38]So what’s behind them? In rats, Semax raised BDNF, a brain growth factor. In rodents, Selank changed the activity of genes linked to GABA, the brain’s calming system. In people? The human studies are small, and most are published in Russian journals that are hard to check.
[0:56]So: real medicines in one country, interesting rat data, and thin human evidence outside Russia. Read the studies. In any language.
Read the studies
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- Semax: A Research Overview of the Neuroprotective Peptide
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