experimental sortilin-derived peptide and TREK-1 channel modulator

PE-22-28

aka PE 22-28 · mini-spadin · GVSWGLR

Evidence grade
Grade D: Preclinical only
for mood and cognition
User score everyone · n = 11
US FDA Not approved checked 2026-11-13
WADA 2026 Likely prohibited (S0) by class rule · checked 2026-11-13
EU EMA authorization for PE-22-28 was not found; national authorizations were not independently verified. · 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

1 man

small sample · n = 1

Outcome negative 1 of 1

Side effects fatigue 1 of 1

Stopped 0 of 1 Used with other compounds 0 of 1

Everyone

11 people

  • Positive: 4 of 11 (36%)
  • Mixed: 1 of 11 (9%)
  • Negative: 4 of 11 (36%)
  • No effect: 2 of 11 (18%)
Benefits reported of 11
Benefits reported (n = 11)
ItemReports
Mood / anxiety3 of 11 (27%)
Energy1 of 11 (9%)
Side effects reported of 11
Side effects reported (n = 11)
ItemReports
Fatigue3 of 11 (27%)
Low mood2 of 11 (18%)
Nausea1 of 11 (9%)
Other1 of 11 (9%)
Why people stopped of 11
Why people stopped (n = 11)
ItemReports
No effect1 of 11 (9%)
Side effects1 of 11 (9%)

Stopped 2 of 11 (18%) Used with other compounds 1 of 11 (9%)

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

In their words

  • “I have been on it for almost two full months and it’s changed my life.”

  • “Did not make a difference for me. Tried it for 6 weeks.”

  • “I've tried it twice, both times I've experienced low mood and low energy by day two”

  • “Never felt anything while on PE-22-28.”

  • “As the title says I felt extreme nausea 3 hours after my morning SubQ dose My bottles are doses at 5mg selank/semax And 10mg PE22”

Read summaries and method notes

Read 1. No self-reporter in this sample could be verified as a man aged 45–60, and none unambiguously established male sex. Among 10 coded users, reported experiences ranged from substantial mood improvement to no effect or worsened mood and energy. One user reported improvement after almost two months, whereas another initially described fewer crying episodes but later concluded that six weeks of use had made no difference. Negative reports included emotional flatness, low energy, and nausea, sometimes during simultaneous use of other compounds. The evidence is especially thin because several relevant threads contain questions rather than completed self-experiments.

Read 2. No man aged 45–60; one identifiable man. Most threads were people asking whether it helps depression. All three actual self-reporters were negative: two felt physically slower, lethargic and emotionally flat (one also noted cycle disruption), and one who stacked it with Selank and Semax had severe nausea three hours after injecting. Reliability very low.

Note 1. Sparse, self-selected evidence. An initial favorable report was replaced by the same author's later no-effect verdict. A combined Selank/Semax/PE-22-28 nausea report is counted as stacked and does not establish which compound caused nausea. An ambiguous reference to PT-22-28 and future-use plans were excluded. No reliable typical dose or duration could be calculated.

Note 2. 6 of 8 threads were prospective questions or avoidance discussions. Two self-reports were only available in Norwegian and Arabic translations.

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

Summary

Heptapeptide derived from the propeptide of Sortilin. Sequence: Arg-Arg-Pro-Tyr-Ile-Leu. MW: ~947 Da. Discovered at CNRS/IPMC (France), Bhaudry/Bhaudry lab.

Proposed mechanism

PE-22-28 is an experimental TREK-1 potassium-channel modulator. Evidence for antidepressant-like or neurogenic effects is cellular and murine, not clinical:

  1. TREK-1 channel inhibition — PE-22-28 inhibited TREK-1 currents in engineered cells. TREK-1 activity hyperpolarizes neurons and reduces excitability; the treatment significance of blockade in people is unestablished
  2. Neurogenesis markers — changes in hippocampal neurogenesis or synapse-formation markers were reported in mice; four-day animal findings do not establish a clinically faster onset than SSRIs
  3. Antidepressant-like effects — mouse forced-swim and feeding-test behavior changed; behavioral comparisons with fluoxetine do not demonstrate equivalent or faster human treatment
  4. Serotonergic and neurotrophic questions — complete independence from serotonin and neurotrophic signaling is not established. Parent-spadin experiments reported altered serotonin-neuron firing and BDNF associations, but those results cannot automatically be assigned to PE-22-28 or humans
  5. Corticosterone modulation — reported in animal models, not as a human treatment outcome

Key distinction from Semax/Selank/Cerebrolysin: TREK-1 is an ion channel, not a receptor. Claims about parent-spadin neurotrophic or serotonergic signaling should not be treated as direct PE-22-28 human measurements.

Safety

  • No established human adverse-event or contraindication profile
  • Unknown human pharmacokinetics, interactions and long-term toxicity
  • Theoretical nervous-system and cardiovascular concerns from TREK-1 activity in multiple tissues
  • No demonstrated safety of nasal or injected use

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

Evidence D mood and cognition

D stands. Cell and mouse data only; no human trial.

Human trials · 0

No human trials found for the marketed use.

Dose ranges

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

  • user-reported, second-hand community summaries; intranasal
    200–400 micrograms per dose, once daily in one summary; unverified and not trial-derived Source on a non-primary host — not linked
  • user-reported, second-hand community summaries; subcutaneous
    100–200 micrograms per dose, once daily in summaries; unverified and not trial-derived Source on a non-primary host — not linked

Editorial ratings EDITORIAL

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

Not rated yet.

Sources

  1. fda.gov/media/94155/download
  2. wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/2025-09/2026list_en_final_clean_september_2025.pdf
  3. ema.europa.eu/en/medicines
  4. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5601071/
  5. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2854129/
  6. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4409910/
  7. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28955242/
  8. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31325429/
  9. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25233810/
  10. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32317978/
  11. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=%22PE+22-28%22
  12. clinicaltrials.gov/
  13. clinicaltrials.gov/search?term=PE-22-28
  14. clinicaltrials.gov/search?term=spadin
  15. fda.gov/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-calendar/july-23-24-2026-meeting-pharmacy-c

Reddit threads read · 9

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

Research checked 2026-11-13.