Epitalon (Epithalon): What the Research Actually Shows

Cellular Energy & Mitochondrial Research

Epitalon is a four-amino-acid peptide, and nearly everything published about it traces back to one research group in St Petersburg. This article separates what was reported in people from what has been shown in human cells, and places the first independent telomere study, published in 2025, alongside the original work.

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Findings

• Epitalon, also written epithalon, is the tetrapeptide Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly (AEDG): formula C14H22N4O9, molecular weight 390.35. It was designed from the amino-acid composition of epithalamin, a peptide extract of the pineal gland.
• Most of the human data are for epithalamin, the extract, rather than synthetic epitalon. The largest report followed 266 older adults for 6 to 8 years across two centres (Khavinson and Morozov, 2003).
• The telomere findings come from human cell cultures: telomerase switched on in fetal fibroblasts in 2003, and in 2025 an independent group at Brunel University London measured longer telomeres in four human cell types.
• Synthetic epitalon itself has two human reports: a 2002 study in retinitis pigmentosa and a 2020 study of melatonin output and circadian-clock genes.

Where epitalon came from

The story starts with epithalamin, a polypeptide extract of bovine pineal gland made up of peptides under 10 kDa. Vladimir Anisimov, Vladimir Khavinson and Vyacheslav Morozov published their first work on pineal extracts in 1973, the name epithalamin appears in the literature from 1975, and the extract was registered for medical use in the USSR in 1990.

Epitalon is the synthetic step that followed. Khavinson’s St Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology filed the patent in 2000 for a tetrapeptide designed from epithalamin’s amino-acid composition: alanine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid and glycine. The first epitalon papers appeared the same year, and in 2017 the group reported finding the AEDG sequence inside the pineal extract itself by mass spectrometry.

Two names cause most of the confusion. Epitalon and epithalon are the same synthetic tetrapeptide. Epithalamin is the older extract it was modelled on. When a paper reports long human follow-up, it is almost always describing epithalamin.

The human studies

Study	Material	Who	What the authors reported
Khavinson and Morozov, Neuro Endocrinol Lett 2003	Epithalamin	266 older adults at two centres, followed 6 to 8 years	St Petersburg arm (94 women aged 66 to 94): 6-year mortality 81.8% on placebo and 45.8% with epithalamin. Kiev arm (152 people): 8-year mortality 13.6% and 8.5%.
Korkushko et al., Bull Exp Biol Med 2006	Epithalamin	Older coronary patients with accelerated cardiovascular ageing, 12 years	28% fewer deaths than the control group, and half the cardiovascular mortality.
Korkushko et al., Bull Exp Biol Med 2011	Epithalamin	79 coronary patients (39 treated, 40 control), 15-year follow-up	Slower cardiovascular ageing, preserved physical endurance and a normalised melatonin rhythm in the treated group.
Korkushko et al., Bull Exp Biol Med 2004	Epithalamin	Healthy older adults	Night-time melatonin rose in those with low pineal activity.
Khavinson et al., Neuro Endocrinol Lett 2002	Synthetic epitalon	Patients with degenerative retinal disease (retinitis pigmentosa)	A positive clinical effect in 90% of patients.
Ivko et al., Adv Gerontol 2020	Synthetic AEDG	Middle-aged adults	Melatonin output (measured in urine) 1.7 times higher, with the clock genes Clock and Csnk1e normalised 1.9 to 2.1-fold.

The 2003 paper is the one most often quoted. Its St Petersburg arm randomised 94 women living in a war veterans’ home into four groups: placebo, epithalamin, thymalin (a thymus peptide) or both, with treatment courses in 1996 and 1997. The combination group had the lowest 6-year mortality, at 33.3%. The Kiev arm gave courses over three years and followed participants to 1999.

Telomeres: what has been shown in human cells

Epitalon’s reputation rests on telomerase, the enzyme that rebuilds telomeres, the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes. Four human-cell studies carry that claim:

• 2003, fetal fibroblasts. In human cells that normally lack telomerase, epitalon switched on its catalytic subunit (hTERT), raised telomerase activity and lengthened telomeres (Khavinson, Bondarev and Butyugov).
• 2004, the division limit. Untreated fetal lung fibroblasts stopped dividing at passage 34. With epitalon, telomeres grew back to their passage-10 length, and the cells reached passage 44 and were still dividing.
• 2019, lymphocytes. In blood cells from 11 men, telomere length changed significantly in 7: short telomeres tended to lengthen and long ones to shorten, which the authors describe as normalisation.
• 2025, the independent replication. A Brunel University London group tested two breast cancer cell lines and two normal human cell types. Telomeres lengthened in all four. In the normal cells telomerase activity rose 4-fold (fibroblasts) and 26-fold (epithelial cells); in the cancer lines the lengthening came with a rise in a telomerase-independent route (ALT) instead. A correction replacing three of the figures followed in November 2025.

These are cell-culture results; telomere length has not yet been measured in people given epitalon.

Reading this literature

Most of the human work comes from the developer’s own institute and its Kiev collaborators, published largely in Russian-language journals and their English translations, and no epitalon trial is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov.

Handling epitalon in the lab

Our Epitalon is supplied as a lyophilised 10 mg vial, singly or in packs of ten. It is reconstituted with bacteriostatic water, and the concentration is set by the volume added: the Epitalon reconstitution guide walks through it and the peptide calculator does the arithmetic. The certificate of analysis is on the lab reports page.

Frequently asked questions

Is epitalon the same as epithalon?

Yes. Epitalon and epithalon are two spellings of the same synthetic tetrapeptide, Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly (AEDG). Epithalamin is different: it is the pineal gland extract that epitalon was modelled on.

What is epitalon made of?

Four amino acids: alanine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid and glycine. Its formula is C14H22N4O9 and its molecular weight is 390.35.

Does epitalon lengthen telomeres?

In human cell cultures, studies from 2003 to 2025 reported telomerase activation and longer telomeres, including an independent study at Brunel University London in 2025. Telomere length has not been measured in people given epitalon.

Who developed epitalon?

Vladimir Khavinson’s group at the St Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, which filed the patent in 2000. It was designed from epithalamin, a pineal extract the same researchers had studied since the 1970s.

Where can I buy epitalon in Canada?

Vistara Labs supplies Epitalon in 10 mg vials, singly or in packs of ten, shipped from within Canada. Laboratory research use only.

Sources: Khavinson VKh, Morozov VG. Peptides of pineal gland and thymus prolong human life. Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2003. PMID 14523363. Korkushko OV et al. Geroprotective effect of epithalamine (pineal gland peptide preparation) in elderly subjects with accelerated aging. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2006. PMID 17426848. Korkushko OV et al. Peptide geroprotector from the pituitary gland inhibits rapid aging of elderly people: results of 15-year follow-up. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2011. PMID 22451889. Korkushko OV et al. Effect of peptide preparation epithalamin on circadian rhythm of epiphyseal melatonin-producing function in elderly people. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2004. PMID 15452611. Khavinson V et al. Pineal-regulating tetrapeptide epitalon improves eye retina condition in retinitis pigmentosa. Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2002. PMID 12195242. Ivko OM et al. AEDG peptide regulates human circadian rhythms genes expression during pineal gland accelerated aging. Adv Gerontol. 2020. PMID 33280326. Khavinson VKh, Bondarev IE, Butyugov AA. Epithalon peptide induces telomerase activity and telomere elongation in human somatic cells. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2003. PMID 12937682. Khavinson VKh et al. Peptide promotes overcoming of the division limit in human somatic cell. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2004. PMID 15455129. Khavinson VKh et al. Effect of peptide AEDG on telomere length and mitotic index of PHA-stimulated human blood lymphocytes. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2019. PMID 31761987. Al-Dulaimi S et al. Epitalon increases telomere length in human cell lines through telomerase upregulation or ALT activity. Biogerontology. 2025. PMID 40908429.