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Chemical Identity And Research Background — Background and Details

By Editorial Desk · published 2025-12-24 · last reviewed 2026-01-29 · Faq

A practical reference on Epithalamin: what it is, how it behaves, what the literature reports, and where the honest uncertainties sit.

Reviewed 2026-01-29. Anything still debated is marked as such rather than presented as settled.

Chemical Identity and Research Background

In its supplied form epitalon is a white to off-white powder, usually lyophilized and often hygroscopic. It dissolves readily in water and in aqueous buffers, and it is commonly handled as the acetate or trifluoroacetate salt to improve stability during purification and drying. The amide backbone is labile in aqueous media, so solutions are less durable than the dry solid. Handling notes in the chemical literature therefore emphasize keeping the powder dry, cool and shielded from light until it is dissolved.

Epitalon is a synthetic tetrapeptide whose sequence is alanine-glutamate-aspartate-glycine, written in single-letter code as AEDG. The four residues are joined by three peptide bonds, giving a linear backbone with no branching and no disulfide bridges. Its calculated molecular mass for the free form is approximately 390.3 daltons, a figure that rises when the compound is supplied as an acetate or trifluoroacetate salt. Because the chain is short, the molecule is defined entirely by its residue order rather than by any folded three-dimensional structure.

Epitalon Background And Identification

Epitalon is a synthetic tetrapeptide with the residue sequence alanine-glutamate-aspartate-glycine, commonly abbreviated AEDG. Its monoisotopic mass is approximately 390.35 daltons, and it is usually supplied as a lyophilised trifluoroacetate or acetate salt. The compound was derived from a pineal gland extract called epithalamin, a heterogeneous preparation investigated in the former Soviet Union. Researchers associated with the Saint Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology described the tetrapeptide as a constituent fragment of that extract. Commercial material is offered as a laboratory reagent rather than as a finished pharmaceutical product.

Literature searches for this compound must account for several spelling variants. Indexing databases contain epitalon, epithalon, epithalone, and AEDG, and relevant records are scattered across Russian-language and English-language journals that do not consistently cross-cite. Early publications describe the parent extract as a mixture of many peptides, whereas later work addresses the single synthetic tetrapeptide. That shift in nomenclature complicates comparison between studies, because extract data and tetrapeptide data are sometimes cited interchangeably. A search strategy omitting the alternate spellings will return an incomplete set of references.

Reported biological findings come mainly from cell culture and rodent experiments. Those studies describe changes in telomerase catalytic subunit expression, melatonin rhythm amplitude, and antioxidant enzyme activity after peptide exposure. Human data are sparse and consist of small trials with limited blinding and inconsistent endpoints. The proposed mechanisms remain hypotheses rather than established facts, and there is no consensus on whether effects observed in animals carry over to people. Independent replication outside the original research groups is limited, which is a recognised gap in the published literature.

Epitalon at a glance

PropertyValueNotes
Chemical classSynthetic tetrapeptideFour residues, linear chain
Residue sequenceAla-Glu-Asp-GlySingle-letter form AEDG
Calculated mass390.3 daltonsValue for the free, uncharged form
AppearanceWhite to off-white powderUsually supplied lyophilized
SolubilityFreely soluble in waterOften handled as a salt form

Epitalon Peptide Background and Structure

Epitalon is a synthetic tetrapeptide with the amino acid sequence alanine-glutamate-aspartate-glycine, abbreviated Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly or AEDG. It was developed by the Russian researcher Vladimir Khavinson and colleagues during work on peptide bioregulators derived from the pineal gland. The compound is short enough to be produced by standard solid-phase peptide synthesis and is typically handled as a lyophilized white powder. Its small size distinguishes it from larger pineal peptides such as epithalamin, a complex extract from which the tetrapeptide was conceptually derived.

The four residues give epitalon a molecular formula of C14H22N4O9 and a molecular weight near 390.35 daltons. The presence of two acidic residues, glutamate and aspartate, makes the free peptide strongly acidic, while the alanine and glycine ends provide neutral, nonpolar character. This combination produces a molecule with substantial water solubility. Because there are no cysteine, methionine, or tryptophan residues, the peptide lacks the most common oxidation-sensitive side chains, which simplifies handling compared with many longer peptides.

The proposed relationship between epitalon and pineal function is a central part of its background. Khavinson's group reported that short peptides corresponding to regions of larger pineal proteins could influence gene expression in cells. Epitalon was framed as a synthetic analogue of an active fragment rather than a direct isolation product. Whether the tetrapeptide reproduces the effects of the parent extract is an open question, because comparative studies are limited and the parent extract itself is not a single defined substance.

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Structure, Naming and Discovery

Residue composition is the property that most cleanly separates verified material from mislabelled samples. Alanine, glutamate, aspartate and glycine appear in that order from the N-terminus, and the two acidic residues sit in the middle of the chain. Because the peptide is short, it can be produced by solid-phase synthesis and characterised by mass spectrometry without ambiguity. Any reported sample whose measured mass departs substantially from 390 daltons is a different compound or a degraded mixture rather than epitalon.

Epitalon is a synthetic tetrapeptide whose four residues are alanine, glutamate, aspartate and glycine, commonly abbreviated AEDG. Its molecular formula is C14H22N4O9 and its monoisotopic mass is near 390.35 daltons. The peptide carries two acidic side chains, so it is neutral to negatively charged in most aqueous buffers. Published reference summaries usually list it under both spellings, epitalon and epithalon, and treat the two names as the same material.

Background and Proposed Mechanism

The most frequently cited proposed action is induction of telomerase, the enzyme that adds repeat sequences to chromosome ends. Cell-culture work from the originating group reported higher telomerase reverse transcriptase expression and measurable telomere elongation in human somatic cells after exposure. How a four-residue peptide would reach nuclear gene regulation is not established, and no cell-surface receptor or uptake route has been identified. Additional reports describe changes in melatonin secretion, antioxidant enzyme activity and lipid peroxidation in aged animals, but these findings remain mechanistically unconnected to the telomerase observation.

Published evidence comes mainly from Russian-language journals and from a single research group, with small sample sizes and limited independent replication. A few laboratories outside that group have examined related peptides and reported weaker or absent telomerase effects, so the central claim is best described as contested rather than settled. Rodent studies report modest changes in some ageing markers and in survival, but designs vary and control conditions are often sparse. No large randomised trial in humans has been published, and long-term safety data in healthy populations are correspondingly thin.

Notes from published material

In peptoids, the side chain is connected to the nitrogen of the peptide backbone, instead of the α-carbon as in peptides. Notably, peptoids lack the amide hydrogen which is responsible for many of the secondary structure elements in peptides and proteins. Peptoids were first invented by Reyna J. Simon, Ronald N. Zuckermann, Paul Bartlett and Daniel V. Santi to mimic protein/peptide products to aid in the discovery of protease-stable small molecule drugs for the East Bay company Chiron. Following the sub-monomer protocol originally created by Ron Zuckermann, each residue is installed in two steps: acylation and displacement. In the acylation step, a haloacetic acid, typically bromoacetic acid activated by diisopropylcarbodiimide reacts with the amine of the previous residue. In the displacement step (a classical SN2 reaction), an amine displaces the halide to form the N-substituted glycine residue. The submonomer approach allows the use of any commercially available or synthetically accessible amine with great potential for combinatorial chemistry.

== Overdose and toxicity == The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment warns that muscimol and products containing it pose serious health risks, especially to children. The toxicity and safety profile of muscimol has been studied in various contexts, both experimental and clinical. It is described as being a relatively toxic compound in animals. The median lethal dose (LD50) in mice is 5.6 to 7 mg/kg intravenously, 3.8 mg/kg subcutaneously, 2.5 to 12 mg/kg intraperitoneally, and 22 mg orally. The LD50 in rats is 4.5 mg/kg intravenously and 45 mg/kg orally. Muscimol shows considerably greater lethal potency or toxicity than gaboxadol. A study on non-human primates indicated that muscimol, when administered in escalating doses, caused reversible hyperkinesia and dyskinesias at higher doses, but no long-term toxicity was observed on histological examination. Muscimol has shown potential as an anticonvulsant, blocking seizures induced by various agents in animal models without causing significant toxicity at therapeutic doses. Muscimol exhibits dose-dependent effects with higher doses leading to significant, but reversible, central nervous system symptoms. The dose of muscimol that is thought to be potentially fatal in humans has been reported to be approximately 90 mg, which is 15 times the reported threshold hallucinogenic dose of 6 mg.

== Molecular Structure of EAATs == Like all glutamate transporters, EAATs are trimers, with each protomer consisting of two domains : the central scaffold domain (Figure 1A, wheat) and the peripheral transport domain (Figure 1A, blue). The transport conformational path is as follows. First, the outward facing conformation occurs (OF, open) which allows the glutamate to bind. Then the HP2 region closes after uptake (OF, closed) and the elevator like movement carries the substrate to the intracellular side of the membrane. It worth nothing that this elevator motion consists of several yet to be categorized/identified conformational changes. After the elevator motion brings the substrate to the IC side of the membrane, EAAT adopts the inward facing (IF, closed) state in which the transport domain is lowered, but the HP2 gate is still closed with the glutamate still bound to the transporter. Lastly, the HP2 gate opens and the glutamate diffuses into the cytoplasm of the cell.

where V100 is the volume occupied by a given sample of gas at 100 °C; V0 is the volume occupied by the same sample of gas at 0 °C; and k is a constant which is the same for all gases at constant pressure. This equation does not contain the temperature and so is not what became known as Charles's Law. Gay-Lussac's value for k (1⁄2.6666), was identical to Dalton's earlier value for vapours and remarkably close to the present-day value of 1⁄2.7315. Gay-Lussac gave credit for this equation to unpublished statements by his fellow Republican citizen J. Charles in 1787. In the absence of a firm record, the gas law relating volume to temperature cannot be attributed to Charles. Dalton's measurements had much more scope regarding temperature than Gay-Lussac, not only measuring the volume at the fixed points of water but also at two intermediate points. Unaware of the inaccuracies of mercury thermometers at the time, which were divided into equal portions between the fixed points, Dalton, after concluding in Essay II that in the case of vapours, “any elastic fluid expands nearly in a uniform manner into 1370 or 1380 parts by 180 degrees (Fahrenheit) of heat”, was unable to confirm it for gases.

=== Natural burial === Natural burial—also called "green burial"—is the process by which a body is returned to the earth to decompose naturally in soil, and in some cases even protect native and endangered wildlife. Natural burial became popularized in the UK in the early 1990s by Ken West, a professional cremator operator for the city of Carlisle, responding to the U.K's call for changes in government that aligned with the United Nations' Environmental Program Local Agenda 21. In addition, there are multiple green burial sites in the U.S. Green burials are developing in Canada (Victoria, BC, and Cobourg, Ontario), as well as in Australia and Ireland. The increase in popularity of alternative burials can be seen as a direct choice of the individual's want to distance themselves from religious practices and spiritual locations as well as an opportunity to exercise their act of choice. The desire to live through nature as well as concern for the environment have been the backbone of the green burial movement. The use of coffins made from alternative materials such as wicker and biodegradable materials as well as trees and other flora are being used in place of headstones. Both practices provide sustainable alternatives to traditional burial practices. Natural burials have been attracting people for reasons outside of environmental and sustainability factors as well. With the expansion of urban centres, ecological corridors gradually disappear. Cemeteries for burial plots preclude alternative uses of the land for a long time.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Further detail

== Signs and symptoms == Prediabetes typically has no distinct signs or symptoms except the sole sign of high blood sugar. People with prediabetes should monitor for signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes such as increased thirst, increased urination, and feeling tired.

=== China === The tomato was introduced to China, likely via the Philippines or Macau, in the 16th century. It was given the name 番茄 fānqié (foreign eggplant), as the Chinese named many foodstuffs introduced from abroad, but referring specifically to early introductions.

DFI Retail Group Holdings Limited (formerly known as Dairy Farm International Holdings Limited) is a Hong Kong–based retail company with legal bases in Bermuda and Singapore. A subsidiary of the Jardine Matheson Group, it is a major East and Southeast Asian retailer involved in the processing and wholesaling of food and health and beauty products. Jardine Strategic, a publicly listed holding company, has an attributable 78 percent stake in the firm. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, with secondary listings on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX). The head office is located at Devon House in Taikoo Place, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong. As of 31 December 2020, the Group, its associates and joint ventures operated over 9,997 outlets; Wellcome/Food World (supermarkets), a controlling stake in Maxim's Catering (foodservice), Cold Storage (supermarkets), Jasons Market Place/Market Place by Jasons/Jasons Food Hall (high end supermarkets), Hero (supermarkets), Mannings/Guardian (health and beauty) stores; it also operates 7-Eleven (convenience stores) throughout the region, and IKEA (home furnishings) stores in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia and Taiwan. The group and its associates and joint ventures employed more than 220,000 people and had total annual sales in excess of US$28.2 billion.

Although various different techniques of acupuncture practice have emerged, the method used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) seems to be the most widely adopted in the US. Traditional acupuncture involves needle insertion, moxibustion, and cupping therapy, and may be accompanied by other procedures such as feeling the pulse and other parts of the body and examining the tongue. Traditional acupuncture involves the belief that a "life force" (qi) circulates within the body in lines called meridians. The main methods practiced in the UK are TCM and Western medical acupuncture. The term Western medical acupuncture is used to indicate an adaptation of TCM-based acupuncture which focuses less on TCM. The Western medical acupuncture approach involves using acupuncture after a medical diagnosis. Limited research has compared the contrasting acupuncture systems used in various countries for determining different acupuncture points, and thus there is no defined standard for acupuncture points. In traditional acupuncture, the acupuncturist decides which points to treat by observing and questioning the patient to make a diagnosis according to the tradition used. In TCM, the four diagnostic methods are: inspection, auscultation and olfaction, inquiring, and palpation. Inspection focuses on the face and particularly on the tongue, including analysis of the tongue placement, size, shape, tension, color and coating, and the absence or presence of teeth marks around the edge. Auscultation and olfaction involve listening for particular sounds, such as wheezing, and observing body odor.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Background from the literature

Alphavirus infection Asymmetric periflexural exanthem of childhood (unilateral laterothoracic exanthem) B virus infection Boston exanthem disease Bovine papular stomatitis Bowenoid papulosis Buffalopox Butcher's wart Chikungunya fever Condylomata acuminata Congenital rubella syndrome Cowpox Cytomegalic inclusion disease Dengue (Break-bone fever) Disseminated herpes zoster Eczema herpeticum (Kaposi's varicelliform eruption) Eczema vaccinatum Epidermodysplasia verruciformis Eruptive pseudoangiomatosis Erythema infectiosum (fifth disease, slapped cheek disease) Exanthem of primary HIV infection (acute retroviral syndrome) Farmyard pox Generalized vaccinia Genital herpes (herpes genitalis, herpes progenitalis) Gianotti–Crosti syndrome (infantile papular acrodermatitis, papular acrodermatitis of childhood, papulovesicular acrolocated syndrome) Giant condyloma acuminatum (Buschke–Löwenstein tumor, giant condyloma of Buschke–Löwenstein tumor) Hand-foot-and-mouth disease Heck's disease (focal epithelial hyperplasia) Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome Hepatitis B Hepatitis C Herpangina Herpes gladiatorum (scrum pox) Herpes simplex Herpes zoster oticus (Ramsay–Hunt syndrome) Herpetic keratoconjunctivitis Herpetic sycosis Herpetic whitlow HIV-associated pruritus Human monkeypox Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 infection Human tanapox Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (immune recovery syndrome) Infectious mononucleosis (glandular fever) Inflammatory skin lesions following zoster infection (isotopic response) Intrauterine herpes simplex Kaposi sarcoma Lassa fever Lipschütz ulcer (ulcus vulvae acutum) Measles (rubeola, morbilli) Milker's nodule Modified varicella-like syndrome Molluscum contagiosum Myrmecia Neonatal herpes simplex Ophthalmic zoster Orf (contagious pustular dermatosis, ecthyma contagiosum, infectious labial dermatitis, sheep pox) Orf-induced immunobullous disease Orolabial herpes (herpes labialis) Papular purpuric gloves and socks syndrome Pigmented wart Postherpetic neuralgia (zoster-associated pain) Post-vaccination follicular eruption Progressive vaccinia (vaccinia gangrenosum, vaccinia necrosum) Pseudocowpox Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (laryngeal papillomatosis) Rift Valley fever Roseola infantum (exanthem subitum, exanthema subitum, sixth disease) Roseola vaccinia Rubella (German measles) Sandfly fever (Pappataci fever, phlebotomus fever) Sealpox Varicella (chickenpox) Variola major (smallpox) Verruca plana (flat wart) Verruca plantaris (plantar wart) Verruca vulgaris (wart) Verrucae palmares et plantares Viral-associated trichodysplasia (ciclosporin-induced folliculodystrophy) Wasting syndrome West Nile virus infection Zoster (herpes zoster, shingles) Zoster sine herpete

Suzetrigine, sold under the brand name Journavx, is an analgesic medication used in the treatment of moderate to severe acute pain. It is taken orally. Suzetrigine was developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The most common adverse effects include itching, muscle spasms, increased blood level of creatine phosphokinase, and rash. Suzetrigine is a small-molecule non-opioid analgesic that works as a selective inhibitor of Nav1.8-dependent pain-signaling pathways in the peripheral nervous system. Nav1.8 channels are predominantly present in peripheral nociceptive neurons of the dorsal root ganglia. Suzetrigine inhibits pain signals before they reach the central nervous system and has no addictive potential. Suzetrigine was approved for medical use in the United States in January 2025. The US Food and Drug Administration considers it to be a first-in-class medication.

In February 2024, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that a paramedic unit had gone missing attempting to rescue six-year-old Hind Rajab. In released audio of the emergency call, Rajab is heard telling the paramedics, "I'm so scared. Please come," with gunfire in the background immediately after the family's car had been hit by an Israeli tank. On 3 February, the media director of the Palestinian Red Crescent stated only Israeli forces knew what had happened to Hind. On 5 February, one week after the attack, Rajab's mother stated, "I have been appealing to the whole world, but no one moved a finger." Her grandfather stated, "We want to know her fate, whatever it was." On 8 February, ten days after Rajab went missing, the Palestinian Red Crescent stated, "We want answers, we want the truth, we need the painful silence to end." On 10 February 2024, Rajab was found dead along with the bodies of the two paramedics.

4.7 to 6.1 million (male), 4.2 to 5.4 million (female) erythrocytes: Red blood cells contain the blood's hemoglobin and distribute oxygen. Mature red blood cells lack a nucleus and organelles in mammals. The red blood cells (together with endothelial vessel cells and other cells) are also marked by glycoproteins that define the different blood types. The proportion of blood occupied by red blood cells is referred to as the hematocrit, and is normally about 45%. The combined surface area of all red blood cells of the human body would be roughly 2,000 times as great as the body's exterior surface. 4,000–11,000 leukocytes: White blood cells are part of the body's immune system; they destroy and remove old or aberrant cells and cellular debris, as well as attack infectious agents (pathogens) and foreign substances. The cancer of leukocytes is called leukemia. 200,000–500,000 thrombocytes: Also called platelets, they take part in blood clotting (coagulation). Fibrin from the coagulation cascade creates a mesh over the platelet plug.

==== Electron-capture dissociation ==== If an electron is added to a multiply charged positive ion, the Coulomb energy is liberated. Adding a free electron is called electron-capture dissociation (ECD), and is represented by

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Frequently asked questions

Which amino acids make up epitalon?

The peptide contains four residues in the order alanine, glutamate, aspartate and glycine, abbreviated AEDG. The chain is linear and held together by three peptide bonds. Its calculated mass for the uncharged free form is about 390.3 daltons.

How does epitalon differ from epithalamin?

Epithalamin refers to a crude preparation derived from bovine pineal tissue, which contains many components. Epitalon is a single synthetic tetrapeptide identified from that material and produced by chemical synthesis. The two names are sometimes confused because early reports treated the synthetic peptide as an active fragment of the extract.

Is epitalon an approved pharmaceutical?

It has been registered for clinical use in Russia, where it is associated with a small family of short peptides. In most other jurisdictions it is not an approved medicine and is traded as a research chemical. Regulatory status varies by country and changes over time.

What is epitalon derived from?

It is based on epithalamin, a peptide-rich preparation obtained from pineal gland tissue and studied in the former Soviet Union. Researchers later identified the tetrapeptide AEDG as a constituent fragment of that material. Modern supplies are produced by chemical synthesis rather than tissue extraction.

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