Pinealon is one of the "bioregulator" peptides — very short sequences developed in St Petersburg and sold in the US research market beside epitalon. Its dose question has an unusually sharp answer, because the record is so small that its one human figure can be quoted in full: a 100 mcg capsule, twice a day, for two weeks. The figure attached to the vials sold today is 1–2 mg a day by injection. This page reports both, where each comes from, and what neither establishes. It reports and does not recommend; any decision about use belongs with a clinician. How to judge any dosing claim is set out in our guide to reading a dosing claim.
What pinealon is
Pinealon is the tripeptide Glu-Asp-Arg (EDR): formula C15H26N6O8, molecular weight 418.40 g/mol (PubChem CID 10273502, CAS 175175-23-2). It is not an approved drug in the US, has no FDA monograph and is not on the lists our Category 2 page covers; we found no FDA evaluation of it. It comes from the research programme of Vladimir Khavinson and colleagues, who describe short peptides as gene-expression regulators — a 2020 review from the group proposes that EDR acts on gene expression and protein synthesis in models of neurodegeneration (Khavinson et al., Molecules). That is a mechanism proposed from cell and animal work, not a human finding.
The record, counted
| Where we looked, 2026-09-26 | Result |
|---|---|
| PubMed, "pinealon" | 22 records |
| PubMed, "Glu-Asp-Arg peptide" | 40 records, overlapping |
| ClinicalTrials.gov | 0 registered studies |
| FDA FAERS (openFDA) | 0 reports |
| Human studies among the 22 (by abstract) | 5, all in Advances in Gerontology, 2012–2016 |
Most of the 22 are cell-culture and rat studies — pineal cell cultures, neuronal oxidative-stress models, aged rats, a rat model of prenatal hyperhomocysteinaemia — and several carry Khavinson as an author. The concentration in one journal and one school is not a flaw in itself; it does mean there is, so far, no independent replication to read the figures against. The same pattern holds for epitalon, as our epitalon dosage page describes.
The human studies and what they state
| Study | Who | Pinealon as described in the abstract |
|---|---|---|
| Nazimko 2012 | Locomotive crew workers | "1 capsule containing 100 mkg of Pinealon 2 times a day", for two weeks |
| Bashkireva 2012 | Truck drivers vs metal craftsmen (150 + 150 examined) | "Bioregulating peptides", best combined with Vesugen; no dose stated |
| Meshchaninov 2015 | 32 adults, 41–83, with organic brain syndrome | Pinealon and Vesugen; no dose, route or duration stated |
| Bashkireva 2015 | Workers exposed to occupational hazards | Short peptides in "preventive medical nutrition"; no dose stated |
| Myakotnykh 2016 | 110 people, comparison of methods | Vesugen and Pinealon combined; no dose stated |
So the entire published human dose record is one line in one abstract: 200 mcg a day by mouth, for 14 days. "mkg" in the abstract is the transliterated Russian abbreviation for micrograms. The phrase "preventive medical nutrition" in the 2015 abstract indicates the peptides were used as nutritional preparations rather than as injected drugs — consistent with the capsule in the 2012 study. We could not open the full texts, which are in Russian; the table reports only what the abstracts state.
The figures on vendor pages
We read the pinealon listings of seven research-peptide vendors on 2026-09-26 (the same sweep as our price survey).
- Vial sizes and prices: three vendors listed a 20 mg lyophilised vial — $48.80, $57.95 and $68.00 ($2.44–$3.40 per labelled milligram). One listed 5 mg and 10 mg vials; two listed pinealon without a public price.
- Dose wording: one vendor page states that "current peptide-community protocols commonly report approximately 1–2 mg once daily for 10–20 days, although other online protocols use lower doses." Another states: "No established human dosage exists for Pinealon." Both statements are accurate descriptions of the record; only the second is a statement about evidence.
The arithmetic between the two sources is simple and is ours: 1–2 mg a day is 5 to 10 times the 200 mcg a day in the one published human study, and it moves the route from a capsule to an injection. A 20 mg vial at 1–2 mg a day is 10 to 20 days' supply at the community figure, and 100 days at the published one. Converting a vial's milligrams into a syringe reading is covered on our reconstitution page.
Three traps in reading pinealon figures
Micrograms and milligrams. The published figure is in micrograms (100 mcg); the vendor figure is in milligrams (1–2 mg). A thousand-fold unit slip between the two is the most likely reading error, and the reason both units are written out in full on this page.
Oral and injected are not interchangeable. A tripeptide taken by mouth is exposed to digestion; no study we found measured how much pinealon reaches the blood by either route. A dose that was used orally says nothing about an injected equivalent, in either direction.
Pinealon alone and pinealon with Vesugen. Three of the five human abstracts report pinealon alongside Vesugen (Lys-Glu-Asp), and two credit the combination with the larger effect. An outcome from a combination cannot be assigned to pinealon.
What is not established
- No trial-established dose, by any route, for any purpose.
- No human pharmacokinetics: absorption, half-life and clearance are unmeasured in the indexed literature.
- No registered trial, so no posted results and no adverse-event table.
- No FDA adverse-event report, and no published toxicity study we could locate.
- No independent replication outside the St Petersburg research school.
Sources and dates
- PubChem CID 10273502 (Glu-Asp-Arg; pinealon), properties and synonyms. Read 2026-09-26.
- PubMed searches "pinealon" (22) and "Glu-Asp-Arg peptide" (40), 2026-09-26; abstracts of PMIDs 22708445, 23734521, 26390612, 28509489, 28539017, 33396470.
- Nazimko VA, Morgul' EV, Petrova OA, et al. Analysis of some parameters of biological age and adaptation possibilities of workers of locomotive brigades. Adv Gerontol. 2012;25(1):57–62. PMID 22708445.
- Khavinson V, Linkova N, Kozhevnikova E, Trofimova S. EDR Peptide: Possible Mechanism of Gene Expression and Protein Synthesis Regulation Involved in the Pathogenesis of Alzheimer's Disease. Molecules. 2020;26(1). PMID 33396470.
- ClinicalTrials.gov intervention search "pinealon", 2026-09-26: 0 studies. openFDA FAERS "pinealon", 2026-09-26: no matches.
- Vendor product listings (store product feeds), 2026-09-26: Biotech Peptides, Swiss Chems, Modern Aminos (20 mg); Behemoth Labz (5/10 mg); PureRawz (dose wording).