Pinealon
A synthetic tripeptide (Glu-Asp-Arg) developed by the Khavinson group as a pineal gland bioregulator, studied for neuroprotective and geroprotective effects.
Also referenced as: EDR, Glu-Asp-Arg
Also appears in: Longevity
This name primarily lives in the research market and should not be read like an approved pharmaceutical product.
Primary lane: Neuroprotection. Also surfaces under Longevity for browsing and discovery.
EDR, Glu-Asp-Arg
No FDA label signal · 21 trials · 1187 PubMed results
Current evidence for Pinealon is limited to laboratory or animal studies — there are no name-matched human trials with reported results. Any claims about effects in people are not yet backed by clinical data.
Pinealon has no clinical trials that name it and 1187 PubMed-indexed publications and is not FDA-approved. Current evidence is preclinical or mechanistic.
Re-checked nightly against the registries — tracked since 2026-07-09. No band changes yet.
Grades evidence strength, not efficacy or safety. Research-use context; not medical advice. Graded 2026-07-13 from PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, ISRCTN, openFDA, Health Canada, and OpenAlex — computed deterministically and refreshed nightly, with a retraction check. How we grade →
What is Pinealon?
Pinealon is a synthetic tripeptide with the sequence Glu-Asp-Arg (EDR), developed by Vladimir Khavinson’s research group at the Saint Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology. It belongs to a class of short peptide bioregulators theorized to interact with DNA and regulate gene expression in a tissue-specific manner — in this case, targeting the pineal gland and central nervous system.
How it works
The proposed mechanism involves direct peptide-DNA interaction:
- Gene regulation — Khavinson’s group has published data suggesting short peptides can penetrate cell nuclei and interact with gene promoter regions, modulating transcription (Khavinson et al., Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 2011)
- Melatonin synthesis — Pinealon is theorized to support pineal function and melatonin production, though direct evidence is limited to cell culture and animal models (Khavinson et al., Advances in Gerontology, 2012)
- Neuroprotection — In cortical neuron cell cultures, EDR peptide reduced markers of oxidative damage and apoptosis (Khavinson et al., Peptides, 2014)
Research status
Published evidence comes primarily from Russian research groups:
- Khavinson & Malinin (2005) described the concept of peptide bioregulation and tissue-specific short peptides (Neuroendocrinology Letters, 26(3):233–238)
- Khavinson et al. (2011) reported that short peptides penetrate cell nuclei and interact with DNA (Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 152(1):102–105)
- Anisimov et al. (2001) showed life extension effects of epithalamin (a pineal peptide preparation) in rodent models (Mechanisms of Ageing and Development, 122(11):1437–1461)
No Western peer-reviewed clinical trials have been published. The evidence base is primarily preclinical and originates from a single research group.
Key considerations
- Part of the Khavinson bioregulator peptide family, alongside Epitalon, Thymalin, and others
- Published research is concentrated in Russian-language journals and a single research group, limiting independent replication
- Available from research vendors as lyophilized powder or capsules (typically 10–20mg)
- The peptide-DNA interaction mechanism proposed by Khavinson is not widely accepted in Western molecular biology