Selank Nasal Spray
10 mg of the TKPRPGP heptapeptide, tuftsin with a Pro-Gly-Pro tail, as a sterile solution in bacteriostatic water in a metered spray bottle. Filled from a lot tested in the manufacturer’s own laboratory, with a certificate.
| Compound | Selank Tuftsin-Pro-Gly-Pro heptapeptide (TKPRPGP) |
|---|---|
| CAS number | 129954-34-3 |
| Molecular formula | C33H57N11O9 |
| Theoretical mass | 751.9 Da |
| Sequence / structure | H-TKPRPGP-OH (7 residues; free N- and C-termini) |
| Contents | Selank: 10 mg per bottle (≤ 0.1% 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
- 10 mg · 1 bottle — $118.99
- 10 mg · Kit of 10 — $1057.82
Selank is a synthetic heptapeptide, Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro, made by adding a Pro-Gly-Pro tail to tuftsin, a four-residue immune peptide. Here it is sold as a nasal spray, with 10 mg of Selank in preserved bacteriostatic water filling a metered spray bottle. Selank research, much of it from Russian groups, covers neurotransmission genes in the rat brain and behaviour in rodent stress models, while a separate literature asks whether molecules can travel from the nose to the brain.
What is in the bottle
The bottle holds 10 mg of Selank as a sterile solution in bacteriostatic water with 0.9% benzyl alcohol as preservative. The safety data sheet puts the peptide at 0.1% w/v or less. It is the same H-TKPRPGP-OH as the freeze-dried vials, theoretical mass 751.9 Da. The safety data sheet leaves the peptide unclassified and lists the preservative, benzyl alcohol, as harmful if swallowed or inhaled, an eye irritant and a skin sensitiser.
Refrigerate the bottle at 2 to 8 °C, upright, capped and in the dark, and do not let it freeze. Selank's sequence has no methionine or cysteine, which spares it the oxidation that complicates Semax in solution, but the storage terms on the safety data sheet still apply. The general principles are covered in peptide storage and stability.
What the research covers
What the Selank studies measured
In the rat frontal cortex, Volkova and colleagues profiled 84 genes involved in neurotransmission one and three hours after Selank or GABA. Real-time PCR picked up significant changes in 45 genes at the first time point and 22 at the second, and the Selank and GABA patterns correlated1. Earlier, Kozlovskaya and colleagues had compared Selank with ten other tuftsin-family peptides in rats and mice sorted by emotional reactivity and exposed to a conflict situation; they reported antistress effects that differed with each peptide's structure and its breakdown fragments2.
The nasal route
Illum reviewed the case for direct transport from nose to brain along the olfactory pathway. Many animal studies, mostly in rats, reported nose-to-brain delivery of a range of drugs, and studies in volunteers that sampled cerebrospinal fluid and blood were, in the author's view, confirming that a direct pathway likely exists3. That review concerns drugs in general, not Selank.
What is not established
Frequently asked questions
Is the spray the same Selank as the vials?
It is. Both contain H-TKPRPGP-OH, theoretical mass 751.9 Da. The difference is form: dry powder stored frozen in the vials, against 10 mg in refrigerated bacteriostatic water in the spray, which should never be frozen.
How much Selank does the bottle contain?
Ten milligrams, about 13.3 µmol, with the concentration at or below 0.1% w/v on the safety data sheet. If a study has to set its own concentration, the freeze-dried 5 mg and 11 mg vials suit that better because they state a dry mass.
Has Selank been studied as a nasal spray?
Not in the papers cited on this page. The Selank abstracts here do not state a route, and the nose-to-brain review covers drugs in general. There are no published findings among these references on Selank uptake from a spray.
References
- Volkova A, Shadrina M, Kolomin T, et al. Selank Administration Affects the Expression of Some Genes Involved in GABAergic Neurotransmission. Front Pharmacol. 2016;7:31. DOI · PubMed
- Kozlovskaya MM, Kozlovskii II, Val'dman EA, et al. Selank and short peptides of the tuftsin family in the regulation of adaptive behavior in stress. Neurosci Behav Physiol. 2003;33(9):853-60. DOI · PubMed
- Illum L. Is nose-to-brain transport of drugs in man a reality?. J Pharm Pharmacol. 2004;56(1):3-17. DOI · PubMed
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.