Selank and Anxiety: The Research

Recherche cognitive et nootropique

Selank has been tested in real patients with anxiety disorders, with results that go beyond symptom scores into side-effect reduction and quality of life. Two Russian clinical studies form the core of its human record.

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Findings

• In a study of 70 patients with anxiety disorders, adding Selank to a benzodiazepine made the anti-anxiety effect arrive sooner.
• It also reduced the tranquilizer’s side effects, including memory and attention problems and sedation.
• Patients’ quality-of-life scores improved.
• A separate study found Selank also shifted immune-system markers in anxious patients, suggesting its effects reach beyond mood.
• Selank is used clinically in Russia as a nasal solution.

The anxiety-treatment study (2015)

Medvedev and colleagues compared phenazepam monotherapy (30 patients) with combined phenazepam-plus-Selank treatment (40 patients) in people with anxiety-phobic, hypochondriac, and somatoform disorders. Effect was assessed clinically and with the HDRS, CGI, and Spielberger scales; tolerability with the UKU scale; and quality of life with the SF-36.

• Adding Selank brought the anxiolytic effect on earlier on the HDRS.
• The combination reduced the side effects of the tranquilizer — attention and memory impairment, asthenia, sedation, longer sleep, sexual disturbance, emotional indifference — both during treatment and after withdrawal.
• Together, these produced a measurable improvement in quality of life for the Selank group.

The immune-marker study (2008)

A separate study found that patients with generalized anxiety disorder and neurasthenia who received Selank for 14 days showed changes in the Th1/Th2 cytokine balance in serum, with a significant inverse correlation over time. The authors suggested Selank could act as an immunomodulator in anxiety-asthenic disorders.

What Selank is

Selank is a synthetic analogue of tuftsin, an immunomodulatory peptide, developed in Russia from the same research program that produced Semax. The two are frequently studied together — our Semax vs Selank comparison covers where they overlap and where they differ.

Frequently asked questions

What did the Selank anxiety study find?

In a study of 70 patients with anxiety disorders, adding Selank to phenazepam brought the anxiolytic effect on earlier, reduced the tranquilizer’s side effects (memory and attention problems, sedation, sexual disturbance), and improved patients’ quality-of-life scores.

Has Selank shown effects on immune markers in humans?

Yes. A separate study reported that Selank shifted the Th1/Th2 cytokine balance in the serum of patients with generalized anxiety disorder and neurasthenia, pointing to an immunomodulatory action alongside its anxiolytic one.

What is Selank?

Selank is a synthetic analogue of the immunomodulatory peptide tuftsin, developed in Russia from the same research program as Semax. It is studied around anxiety and immune regulation.

Sources: Medvedev VE, et al. Optimization of the treatment of anxiety disorders with selank. Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova. 2015;115(6):33-40. PMID 26356395. Uchakina ON, et al. Immunomodulatory effects of selank in patients with anxiety-asthenic disorders. Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova. 2008;108(5):71-75. PMID 18577961.