Longevity and cellular defence
Epithalon
Also known as Epitalon, AEDG peptide
A synthetic tetrapeptide based on a pineal gland extract, studied in the context of telomere biology.
What it is
Epithalon is a four-amino-acid peptide (alanine-glutamate-aspartate-glycine) synthesised as a defined version of epithalamin, an extract of the pineal gland. It came out of Russian gerontology research, where the pineal gland was a focus of ageing studies.
What published research examines
- Telomerase activity in cell culture
- Melatonin production and circadian regulation
- Lifespan endpoints in animal models
- Age-related changes in pineal function
Where the research stands
The Epithalon literature comes predominantly from a small number of Russian research groups, and independent replication outside that body of work is limited.