Angiotensin-IV-derived peptidomimetic; proposed HGF-system modulator

Dihexa

aka PNB-0408 · N-hexanoyl-Tyr-Ile-(6)-aminohexanoic amide

Evidence grade
Grade D: Preclinical only
for nootropic / cognitive repair
User score too few reports (9) needs ≥ 10 reports
US FDA Not approved checked 2026-11-13
WADA 2026 Likely prohibited (S0) by class rule · checked 2026-11-13
EU No data · checked 2026-11-13

User reports

approximate — combined from two independent Reddit reads

Men 45–60

0 men aged 45–60

No reports in this group yet.

All men

0 men

No reports in this group yet.

Everyone

9 people

small sample · n = 9

Outcome unclear 5 of 9 · mixed 2 of 9 · positive 2 of 9 · no effect 1 of 9

Benefits focus / cognition 3 of 9 · mood / anxiety 2 of 9 · energy 1 of 9 · recovery 1 of 9

Side effects other 3 of 9 · anxiety 1 of 9 · insomnia 1 of 9

Stopped 0 of 9 Used with other compounds 2 of 9

User reports are anecdata, not evidence: self-selected, unverified, often combined with other compounds.

In their words

  • “my memory has become somewhat better.”

  • “But I also noticed that my attentiveness became worse”

  • “I swear I feel no different at all even now.”

  • “I was much more agitated than usual and my inner aggression was also much more present.”

  • “Other than the aforementioned strange experience; I had virtually no gains in working memory, verbal fluency, pattern recognition or any other cognitive domain.”

  • “I have used dihexa 5 mg daily for the last 2 weeks with occasional moda”

Read summaries and method notes

Read 1. No explicit male 45–60 self-report was found, and sex was not inferred for the three counted reporters. Long-term use was associated by one user with better memory, procedural learning and idea generation but worse attentiveness, yielding a mixed verdict. A two-week user reported strikingly better chess performance while feeling almost no subjective change, but was concurrently using modafinil and eutropoflavin. A first-day report described mood improvement accompanied by increased agitation/aggression while also taking bupropion and NSI-189. The very small, heavily stacked sample makes both benefit and adverse-effect counts highly unstable.

Read 2. No stated man or age. Nine users from 18 threads: 2 strongly positive (one with 6 months at 5 mg/day, better than 20 years of dextroamphetamine), 1 mixed, 1 no effect, 5 early logs. Side effects: insomnia, tolerance after a year, a "strange experience". High-risk experimental compound acting over weeks to months.

Note 1. Extremely small sample with substantial nootropic/polypharmacy confounding. One seed ResearchCompounds URL returned 404 and was skipped.

Note 2. Several Day 1-3 logs without follow-up. Routes vary widely (oral, sublingual, intranasal, transdermal DMSO).

Each read counted people independently. Overlap between the two reads is estimated from shared threads and removed; counts are approximate. How we count.

Summary

Hexapeptide analog of angiotensin IV. Structure: N-hexanoyl-Tyr-Ile-(6)aminohexanoic amide. MW: ~491 Da.

Proposed mechanism

Dihexa was proposed as an HGF-system modulator on the basis of integrity-limited preclinical work. The 2014 Benoist HGF/c-Met paper was retracted in April 2025 after findings of fabricated/falsified data; it cannot support an unqualified mechanism claim. Retraction

  • The 2013 McCoy development paper reported synaptogenesis, cognitive effects, brain penetration, oral exposure and animal pharmacokinetics; it has a 2021 notice of concern, not a retraction. Those historical claims do not establish human exposure or efficacy. Paper, notice
  • The precise “10⁷× more potent than BDNF” claim lacked a verified primary basis and is withdrawn. A proposed angiotensin/HGF pathway does not establish clinical superiority over Semax/Selank.

Safety

  • No established direct human safety profile or pharmacokinetics
  • HGF/MET cancer concern is mechanistic, not demonstrated Dihexa carcinogenicity
  • Retraction weakens confidence in the proposed mechanism
  • No validated screening strategy makes exposure safe

From labels, regulators and trials. No signal in small studies ≠ safe.

Evidence D nootropic / cognitive repair

D stands. No human data; the key mechanism paper was retracted in 2025 and the development paper carries a notice of concern.

Human trials · 0

No human trials found for the marketed use.

Dose ranges

Reported ranges from labels and studies, with context. Not a recommendation.

No data.

Editorial ratings EDITORIAL

Editors’ judgement, 0–5. Opinion, not data; separate from grade and user score.

Not rated yet.

Sources

  1. fda.gov/advisory-committees/pharmacy-compounding-advisory-committee/meeting-pharmacy-compo
  2. wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/2025-09/2026list_en_final_clean_september_2025.pdf
  3. ema.europa.eu/en/medicines
  4. precision.fda.gov/uniisearch/srs/unii/9WYX65A5C2
  5. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23055539/
  6. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3533412
  7. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3533412/
  8. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34551989/
  9. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25187433/
  10. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40312093/
  11. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13095468/
  12. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27532814/
  13. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/4233
  14. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41393340/
  15. fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/certain-bulk-drug-substances-use-compounding-may-pres
  16. hhs.gov/sites/default/files/hhs-503a-peptide-enforcement-discretion-policy-appendix-b.pdf

Reddit threads read · 9

4 further sources on commercial or non-primary hosts not listed.

Research checked 2026-11-13.