Cortagen Reconstitution Calculator

Cortagen is a synthetic tetrapeptide (Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro) produced by directed synthesis from the amino-acid composition of Cortexin, a polypeptide complex derived from cerebral cortex. It belongs to the short-peptide bioregulator ("cytogen") class and acts tissue-selectively on nervous tissue (animal, in vitro): in organotypic cultures it stimulated explant growth from rat cerebral cortex but not liver or thymus.

No. Cortagen holds no FDA or EMA approval; it emerged from Russian peptide bioregulator research and has documented clinical use in elderly populations in that setting. Elsewhere it circulates as an unapproved research peptide. All dosing below reflects experimental data and community practice, not a licensed indication.

Primary mechanism: epigenetic chromatin remodeling rather than classical receptor agonism. In lymphocytes from 75–88-year-olds, Cortagen decondensed age-condensed facultative heterochromatin, activated ribosomal genes (NORs), and released genes silenced by aging, without altering pericentromeric structural heterochromatin (human ex vivo). It also modulates large-scale transcription: a 5-day course in mice altered expression of 110 known genes in heart (max +5.42-fold) (animal). It suppresses oxidative damage (injections reduced lipid-peroxidation products and oxidative protein modification in rat serum and cortex ) and in chronic cerebral ischemia models accelerated behavioral recovery while preserving antioxidant capacity (animal).

Three main areas (animal unless noted): (1) chronic cerebral ischemia/neuroprotection; (2) peripheral nerve recovery: in humans Cortagen showed "a pronounced therapeutic effect upon the structural and functional posttraumatic recovery of peripheral nerve tissue", and in rats 10 mcg/kg IM daily ×10 days after sciatic transection increased regenerating-fiber growth rate 27% and conduction velocity 40%; (3) age-related gene silencing in the elderly (human ex vivo). Direct cognitive-outcome trials are absent.

Cortagen is injectable. Published sources document intramuscular injection and parenteral injection generally; no oral or intranasal human data exist in the evidence above. Practitioner/community practice most often uses intramuscular or intranasal injection of 5–10 mg/day for 10-day cycles (community protocol). Oral use is not recommended: as a short linear tetrapeptide, it is vulnerable to GI peptidases before absorption (mechanistic).

The only body-weight-based dose in the literature is 10 mcg/kg IM daily for 10 days in rats. No published human dose-finding exists. Practitioner consensus: 5–10 mg/day IM or intranasal for 10 days, with courses repeated every 3–6 months (practitioner consensus). Longer treatment periods appear in older protocols (40-day courses were used in birds ), but community practice keeps human cycles to 10–20 days to limit unresearched continuous exposure (community protocol).

Epitalon (Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly) differs only in the terminal amino acid (Gly vs Pro), yet the two diverge functionally: Epitalon normalized erythrocytes, immunity, and hemostasis in hypophysectomized and old birds, while Cortagen did not; Epitalon was also more potent at inducing IL-2 mRNA in splenocytes and at thymocyte proliferation via the sphingomyelin pathway, where Cortagen showed no effect. Cortexin (its parent polypeptide complex) and Cerebrolysin are multi-peptide neuroprotectives contrasted with short peptides (Semax, Cortagen, Pinealon) in the clinical literature; Cortexin and Cortagen both restored behavior in the chronic ischemia model. Practical advantage of Cortagen: a single defined sequence with reproducible synthesis and no animal-tissue variability (community).

No controlled human safety trials exist; no adverse events were reported across the animal and ex vivo studies cited here. Pregnancy and lactation: zero data, avoid (practitioner consensus). Duration: studies ran 5 days, 10 days, or 40 days; without long-term data, community practice caps courses at 10–20 days with months between cycles (community protocol). The peptide's gene-expression effects are broad, so this restraint is prudent.

Yes. Store lyophilized vials at 2–8°C; after reconstitution with bacteriostatic water or 0.9% saline, refrigerate and use within ~30 days (community protocol). Travel: Cortagen is unapproved for human use in most jurisdictions; carrying injectable vials across borders risks seizure at customs, so verify import rules before flying (practitioner consensus).