Cortagen Nasal Spray
The synthetic tetrapeptide Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro (AEDP) as a sterile solution in bacteriostatic water, in a metered spray bottle. Made from a peptide lot tested in the manufacturer’s own laboratory, with a certificate.
| Compound | Cortagen Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro (AEDP); Khavinson cerebral-cortex peptide bioregulator |
|---|---|
| CAS number | Not assigned |
| Molecular formula | C17H26N4O9 |
| Theoretical mass | 430.4 Da |
| Sequence / structure | H-AEDP-OH (4 residues; free N- and C-termini) |
| Contents | Cortagen: 20 mg per bottle (≤ 0.2% w/v) |
| Form | Sterile aqueous solution in bacteriostatic water (0.9% benzyl alcohol), supplied in a metered nasal spray bottle |
| Storage, sealed | Store at 2–8 °C, protected from light; do not freeze |
| Format | Solution in a metered nasal spray bottle |
Sizes and lots
- 20 mg · 1 bottle — $118.99
- 20 mg · Kit of 10 — $1057.82
Cortagen is a four-residue synthetic peptide, Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro, that Khavinson's St Petersburg group assigned to the cerebral cortex. This listing supplies 20 mg of it as a sterile solution in a metered nasal spray bottle. Research on cortagen consists of a few short reports on peripheral nerve repair, oxidative stress in rats and chromatin, and none of them used the nasal route.
What is in the bottle
The bottle holds 20 mg of cortagen in bacteriostatic water with 0.9% benzyl alcohol as a preservative, and the safety data sheet puts the peptide at no more than 0.2% w/v. The peptide is not classified as hazardous. Benzyl alcohol is harmful if swallowed or inhaled, seriously irritates the eyes and may cause an allergic skin reaction.
Store the bottle upright and capped at 2 to 8 °C, out of the light, and never freeze it. Aspartate-proline bonds break more readily in acid than other bonds next to aspartate1, so a solution of AEDP is best kept cold, as the safety data sheet directs. General advice on peptide solutions is in peptide storage and stability.
What the research covers
The cortagen literature is short and almost entirely Russian. The first report, in 2000, concerned the effect of the tetrapeptide on regeneration of the sciatic nerve and appeared in the Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine2; its abstract is not available here. A rat study by Kozina gave epithalon or cortagen and found lower lipid peroxidation products and less oxidative protein damage, together with lower antioxidant activity in serum and cerebral cortex3. That combination, less oxidative damage while measured antioxidant activity also fell, is reported without any explanation in the one-sentence abstract3. A 2015 paper examined how cortagen affects "aged" heterochromatin, an epigenetic question, though only its title is available here4. It appeared in the International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics, one of the few cortagen papers published outside a Russian journal4.
None of these studies delivered cortagen through the nose, and none of the references measures how much of a 430 Da peptide crosses the nasal lining. The DNA-binding mechanism proposed for the Khavinson peptides was studied with relatives of cortagen rather than with cortagen itself. The Cortagen 20 mg vial page has the full research summary, and the peptide bioregulators overview covers the family.
Frequently asked questions
Is the spray the same peptide as the Cortagen vial and pen?
Yes, Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro with free termini. The vial is freeze-dried powder kept frozen; the spray and the pen are solutions in bacteriostatic water kept at 2 to 8 °C. All three formats hold 20 mg of peptide.
Has cortagen been studied as a nasal spray?
Not in any paper cited here. The published reports concern nerve injury and oxidative stress in animals, and none of them measured uptake of the peptide through the nose, so there are no results specific to this format.
References
- Marcus F. Preferential cleavage at aspartyl-prolyl peptide bonds in dilute acid. Int J Pept Protein Res. 1985;25(5):542-6. DOI · PubMed
- Turchaninova LN, Kolosova LI, Malinin VV, et al. Effect of tetrapeptide cortagen on regeneration of sciatic nerve. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine. 2000;130(6):1172-1174. DOI
- Kozina LS. Effects of bioactive tetrapeptides on free-radical processes. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2007;143(6):744-6. DOI · PubMed
- Lezhava T, Monaselidze J, Jokhadze T, et al. Epigenetic Regulation of “Aged” Heterochromatin by Peptide Bioregulator Cortagen. International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics. 2015;21(1):157-163. DOI
For laboratory research use only. Not for human or veterinary consumption. Products have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.