Selank

Educational overview

Selank is listed in the ezGLP knowledgebase under Nootropic. Evidence and regulatory status can vary by formulation, route, and jurisdiction.

Selank is a synthetic heptapeptide (Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro) developed in Russia at the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences together with the Zakusov Institute of Pharmacology. It is an analogue of tuftsin, a naturally occurring tetrapeptide fragment of the immunoglobulin G heavy chain, extended with the C-terminal tripeptide Pro-Gly-Pro to slow enzymatic breakdown. It is classed as a peptide anxiolytic with nootropic claims. Proposed mechanisms include positive allosteric modulation of GABA-A receptors, inhibition of enkephalin-degrading enzymes, changes in monoamine turnover, and altered expression of genes involved in GABAergic and immune signalling. In Russia it is formulated as nasal drops.

The evidence is almost entirely Russian in origin and comes predominantly from the developing institutes. The principal human study, published in 2008, enrolled sixty-two patients with generalised anxiety disorder or neurasthenia and compared Selank in thirty patients with the benzodiazepine medazepam in thirty-two, reporting comparable anxiolytic effect plus antiasthenic and mildly stimulant properties. That trial used an active comparator without a placebo arm. Supporting data come from rodent models of chronic mild stress and alcohol withdrawal and from a 2018 radioligand study describing GABA receptor modulation. No large placebo-controlled randomised trial has been published, and independent replication outside Russia and Eastern Europe is lacking.

Selank is registered as a medicine in Russia, where it is marketed as an intranasal solution, but it is not approved by the FDA, the EMA, the MHRA, or the TGA for any indication. In the United States it was reviewed under the FDA compounding bulk drug substances programme, where the agency described Selank acetate as presenting a risk of immunogenicity arising from aggregation and peptide-related impurities. Outside Russia it is sold online as a research chemical in nasal spray and lyophilised injectable forms, without regulator-reviewed labelling or independent verification of identity, purity, or sterility. Its legal status as an unlicensed medicine varies by jurisdiction.

Storage requirements depend on the formulation. The Russian nasal drops carry a manufacturer label; research-chemical products rely on supplier guidance. Peptide solutions are sensitive to heat, light, and repeated temperature cycling, and multi-dose nasal bottles carry a microbial contamination risk once opened, so the beyond-use time after opening or reconstitution is product-specific and often unstated. A dose log that records the product source, lot number, concentration, route, date first opened, and storage conditions, paired with an inventory record of bottles or vials on hand, gives a person the traceability that a licensed product label would otherwise provide.

Category

Nootropic

Routes represented

Intranasal

Storage context

Follow the dispensed product or pharmacy label; storage and beyond-use time vary by formulation.