Selank

Evidence: Clinical

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Overview

Tuftsin-derived synthetic heptapeptide developed in Russia; small human trials report anxiolytic and mild nootropic effects without sedation or dependence.

Selank is a synthetic heptapeptide combining the sequence of tuftsin with additional amino acids. Research shows anxiolytic and nootropic effects without sedation or addiction potential. Studies indicate benefits for anxiety, cognitive function, immune modulation, and stress resilience through GABA and serotonin pathway modulation.

Benefits

Stress reduction, mood improvement, cognitive enhancement

Dosing reference

Research dose: Vendor/community range 250 to 500 mcg daily (intranasal or injection); not dose-tested. Russian anxiety trials used higher intranasal doses (see dosing notes).
Range: 250 to 500 mcg, 1-2x daily
Reconstitution: 2 mL bacteriostatic water
Common vial sizes: 5 mg

Usually intranasal. Russian anxiety trials used considerably higher intranasal doses than community protocols (roughly 1800-2700 mcg/day of a 0.15% solution). Generally well tolerated; transient nasal irritation and drowsiness reported. No long-term safety data outside Russia.

Mechanism

Proposed, from Russian rodent and in vitro work. Selank inhibited enkephalin-degrading enzymes (Zozulya et al., 2001), which the authors put forward as a basis for its anxiolytic action. In rodent brain it changed the expression of genes involved in GABAergic transmission (Volkova et al., 2016). Intranasal Selank raised BDNF expression in rat hippocampus (Inozemtseva et al., 2008). No single receptor target has been confirmed.

Evidence

Clinical: at least one published human trial or an approved drug

Selank was studied as an anxiolytic in generalized anxiety disorder and neurasthenia in a Russian trial (n=62) (Zozulia et al., 2008)
Selank was compared with phenazepam for anxiolytic effect and tolerability in anxiety disorders (n=60) (Medvedev et al., 2014)
A further Russian trial in anxiety disorders enrolled 70 patients (Medvedev et al., 2015)
Selank inhibited enkephalin-degrading enzymes (Zozulya et al., 2001) and raised hippocampal BDNF expression in rats after intranasal dosing (Inozemtseva et al., 2008)
Human-trial status: all human trials are Russian and published in Russian; Selank is a registered drug in Russia (Deigin et al., 2022). Outside Russia it turns up in seized unregulated research-peptide products (Vanhee et al., 2020)

References

Side effects

Generally well tolerated in Russian clinical use; reported effects are limited to nasal irritation from the intranasal route, mild drowsiness, and occasional dizziness. Safety data outside Russian-language trials is limited.

Pharmacology

Half-life: Not established in humans; no human plasma half-life published in the sources reviewed
Bioavailability: Not measured in humans. Intranasal dosing in rats raised hippocampal BDNF expression, evidence of central activity (Inozemtseva et al., 2008)
Molecular weight: 751.9 Da
Sequence: TKPRPGP