Cortagen

Also known as: Korthagen, AEDP, Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro

Evidence: Preclinical

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Overview

Khavinson-series synthetic tetrapeptide (AEDP) designed from the brain extract Cortexin; studied in rats for sciatic nerve regeneration and in rodent brain for antioxidant effects.

Cortagen (also spelled Korthagen) is a synthetic tetrapeptide (AEDP, Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro) made by the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology from the amino acid make-up of Cortexin, a brain cortex peptide drug (Anisimov 2004). In rats with a cut and sutured sciatic nerve, 10 mcg/kg intramuscularly for 10 days raised regrowth rate by 27% and conduction velocity by 40% (Turchaninova 2000). It lowered lipid peroxidation in rat brain and serum (Kozina 2007) and sped recovery of behavior in rats with chronic brain ischemia (Zarubina 2011). One paper says it aided human nerve recovery, but no human study is indexed.

Benefits

Faster sciatic nerve fiber regrowth and conduction (rat), lower lipid peroxidation in brain and serum (rat), gene expression changes in heart (mouse)

Dosing reference

Research dose: 200 to 1000 mcg daily in 10 to 20 day courses: vendor/community range, no published human dose. Rats received 10 mcg/kg intramuscularly
Range: 200 to 1000 mcg, 1x daily

Sold as oral capsules and as lyophilized powder for injection. The nerve study gave 10 mcg/kg intramuscularly daily for 10 days in rats (Turchaninova 2000). Community protocols run 10 to 20 day courses two or three times a year; no study compared schedules.

Mechanism

Proposed. In mouse heart, five daily injections changed expression of 110 known genes out of 15,247 transcripts screened (up to 5.4 fold up, 2.9 fold down) (Anisimov 2004). In rats it lowered lipid peroxidation products and oxidative protein modification in serum and cortex (Kozina 2007). Blood-brain barrier passage has not been measured; the old claim that it enters neurons and regulates synaptic genes has no published source.

Evidence

Preclinical: animal or in vitro data only

At 10 mcg/kg intramuscularly for 10 days after sciatic nerve transection, nerve fiber growth rate rose 27% and conduction velocity 40% in rats (Turchaninova et al., 2000)
Five daily injections changed expression of 110 known genes in mouse heart by cDNA microarray (Anisimov et al., 2004)
Lowered lipid peroxidation products and oxidative protein modification in rat serum and cerebral cortex (Kozina et al., 2007)
Sped recovery of behavior and limited lipid peroxidation in rats with chronic brain ischemia (Zarubina et al., 2011)
Human-trial status: no indexed human study; a 2004 paper states it aided human peripheral nerve recovery without giving data

References

Side effects

No controlled safety study has been published in any species, and the animal and cell studies, almost all from the developing institute, were not designed to detect harm. Commonly reported (anecdotal): injection-site irritation with injectable forms; oral capsules draw few complaints.

Storage

Storage: Room temperature
Lyophilized: 24+ months

Pharmacology

Half-life: No published pharmacokinetic data in any species
Bioavailability: Not measured in any species; brain penetration not tested
Molecular weight: 430.41 Da
Sequence: AEDP (Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro)