Heterogeneous family of synthetic short peptides and organ-derived peptide extracts
Khavinson bioregulators
aka short peptide bioregulators · cytogens · cytomedins
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
18 people
- Positive: 10 of 18 (56%)
- Mixed: 1 of 18 (6%)
- Negative: 1 of 18 (6%)
- No effect: 3 of 18 (17%)
- Unclear: 3 of 18 (17%)
| Item | Reports |
|---|---|
| Joints / tendons | 3 of 18 (17%) |
| Immune | 2 of 18 (11%) |
| Other | 2 of 18 (11%) |
| Sleep | 2 of 18 (11%) |
| Endurance | 1 of 18 (6%) |
| Energy | 1 of 18 (6%) |
| Inflammation | 1 of 18 (6%) |
| Injury healing | 1 of 18 (6%) |
| Item | Reports |
|---|---|
| Anxiety | 1 of 18 (6%) |
| Fatigue | 1 of 18 (6%) |
| Low mood | 1 of 18 (6%) |
| Other | 1 of 18 (6%) |
| Item | Reports |
|---|---|
| Side effects | 1 of 18 (6%) |
User reports are anecdata, not evidence: self-selected, unverified, often combined with other compounds.
In their words
“I have used cartalax and testagen.”
“I've tried several formulations (including the Vesugen and Ventfort).”
“Prostamax: negligible effects.”
“Epathalon - completely changed my sleep. Didn't notice anything until the end of the cycle.”
“I used ventfort to completely heal an obstructed blood vessel in the palm of my hand. Surgery was needed.”
“It's been about 2 weeks since I stopped, and I feel like the negative effects haven't worn off and it feels permanent.”
“I took 2mh of cartalax for 30 days, took 30 days off and then ran another 30 days. Did absolutely nothing for me.”
Read summaries and method notes
Read 1. No man aged 45–60 and no explicitly male reporter. One Cartalax user confirmed use but gave no concrete outcome (unclear); another found several formulations including Vesugen beneficial; a third found Prostamax had negligible effect on long-standing night-time urinary/prostate symptoms. Only three countable users.
Read 2. No man aged 45–60 and no stated man. Fifteen users across 11 threads (Epitalon/Endoluten, Cartalax, Ventfort, Thymalin, Vesugen, a kidney bioregulator): 9 positive, 1 mixed, 1 negative, 2 no effect, 2 unclear — joint and back pain on Cartalax, sleep on Epitalon, infection resilience, one vessel healing (Ventfort), one creatinine normalised. One Vesugen user had severe weakness, brain fog, speech problems, irritability and depression after five days, lasting two weeks after stopping. No usable reports for Cortexin, Prostamax, Vilon or Livagen.
Note 1. Counts restricted to the named aliases; other Russian bioregulators in the same threads were not merged. The Cartalax record confirms use but not an outcome, so it is coded unclear.
Note 2. No explicit age/sex. One seed thread could not be opened; third-party and non-Khavinson reports were excluded. No usable reports for Cortexin, Prostamax, Vilon or Livagen.
Each read counted people independently. Overlap between the two reads is estimated from shared threads and removed; counts are approximate. How we count.
Summary
Safety
- Family members differ in identity, quality and safety; extract results cannot be assigned to synthetic analogs
- One Cortexin stroke trial had seven deaths in treated groups versus none in placebo; causality was not established
- FDA identified theoretical carcinogenic and immunogenicity concerns for epitalon and inadequate human safety data
- A Pinealon/Vesugen report found pro-oxidant markers and reduced circulating CD34-positive cells with uncertain attribution
From labels, regulators and trials. No signal in small studies ≠ safe.
Legal status
US FDAVaries by substance
Varies by substance; no single family-wide approval or compounding category. Epitalon free base and acetate were recommended for 503A listing by PCAC on July 24, 2026; HHS subsequently described conditional interim enforcement discretion for specified 503A compounding of epitalon acetate. This is not FDA drug approval or final listing. Other members require separate checks. Source
checked 2026-11-13WADA 2026Varies by substance
Substance-specific; not possible to assign one family-wide class or status. Source
checked 2026-11-13EU
No single family-wide authorization; assess each ingredient and national or EU authorization separately. Source
checked 2026-11-13Re-check pending: HHS interim policy is a draft; re-check after the comment period.
Evidence C general anti-ageing / organ 'bioregulation' (the family as a class)
C stands. Small or poorly reported human studies exist for individual members (epithalamin/thymalin mortality report, Cortexin stroke RCT that Cochrane found unconvincing, Pinealon/Vesugen report), none establishing a class effect. Not D because humans were treated; not B because no solid positive RCT for the marketed use.
Human trials · 4
- PMID 145233632003Two reported stratified randomized placebo-controlled programs and a separately described annual-treatment group 266 people
Older adults given thymalin, epithalamin or both in two historical programs
Reported mortality reductions; the separate annual combination subgroup and methodological limitations prevent confident extrapolation to synthetic family members. Source
- PMID 248743162014Multicenter randomized, described as double-blind and placebo-controlled 272 people
Acute ischemic stroke; Cortexin extract plus baseline treatment versus placebo
Authors reported benefit; a later systematic review found insufficient clear evidence of improved clinical outcomes and reported seven deaths in exposed groups versus none in the placebo group, without established causation. Source
- PMID 263906122015Small clinical report; allocation and blinding unclear 32 people
Adults with multiple chronic illnesses and organic brain syndrome in remission, given Pinealon and/or Vesugen
Reported changes in aging indicators and laboratory markers; individual peptide effects are not clear from the abstract. Source
- PMID 332803262020Small randomized placebo-controlled biomarker study with reference group; methods incompletely described 75 people
Female night-shift workers, including 40 with reduced melatonin production assigned to epitalon or placebo
Altered melatonin-related and circadian gene biomarkers; no proven clinical sleep or longevity outcome. Source
Bar length = trial size on a log scale.
Dose ranges
Reported ranges from labels and studies, with context. Not a recommendation.
- clinical trial
Thymalin 10 mg intramuscularly daily for 10 days per course in one 2003 study program Source on a non-primary host — not linked - clinical trial
Epitalon 0.5 mg/day sublingually for 20 days in a biomarker study Source - clinical trial
Cortexin 20 mg/day intramuscularly for 10 days in one small stroke trial Source
Editorial ratings EDITORIAL
Editors’ judgement, 0–5. Opinion, not data; separate from grade and user score.
Sources
- pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14523363/
- pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24874316/
- pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26390612/
- pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33280326/
- hhs.gov/sites/default/files/hhs-503a-peptide-enforcement-discretion-policy-appendix-b.pdf
- wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/2025-09/2026list_en_final_clean_september_2025.pdf?embed=
- ema.europa.eu/en/medicines
- pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13664938/
- pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19431244/
- pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41524350/
- pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23734521/
- pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40908429/
- pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41240216/
- pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10565895/
- pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8654498/
- fda.gov/media/193345/download
- fda.gov/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-calendar/july-23-24-2026-meeting-pharmacy-c
- fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-roundup-february-13-2024
Reddit threads read · 15
- r/Biohackers
- r/Peptides
- r/Biohackers
- r/Peptidesource
- r/Biohackers
- r/NTNPerformance
- r/AskARussian
- r/Peptides
- r/Peptides
- r/Peptides
- r/Peptides
- r/PeptideDiscussion
- r/peptideforums
- r/thepeptideeffect
- r/NooTopics
5 further sources on commercial or non-primary hosts not listed.
Research checked 2026-11-13.