Cortagen Reconstitution Calculator

Cortagen is the synthetic tetrapeptide Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro (AEDP), classified as a short bioregulator peptide with neuroprotective and epigenetic activity. In lymphocytes from donors aged 75–88 years, Cortagen selectively remodeled telomeric and pericentromeric heterochromatin. In vitro, AEDP directs pluripotent cell differentiation toward neural, mesenchymal, and epidermal lineages. Cortagen showed therapeutic activity in a Drosophila model of neurodegeneration. A review notes neuroprotective application in elderly humans, but controlled human data are absent.

No. Cortagen is not approved by the FDA or EMA as a drug. It is typically available as a research peptide or via compounding; regulatory status varies by country. No human RCT exists to support regulatory approval.

No formal human dose-response data exist. In community protocols, Cortagen is commonly administered at 10 mg/day by subcutaneous or intramuscular injection for 10–20 days, repeated every 3–6 months (community protocol). Some protocols use 100 mcg/kg/day for neuroprotection; no RCT validates this. Preclinical studies used systemic administration.

Injection is the most documented route in practitioner protocols (community protocol). As a 4-amino-acid peptide, oral bioavailability is expected to be low due to GI peptidases, but no human pharmacokinetic data exist. Intranasal use is reported by some practitioners for direct CNS delivery; evidence is limited. For systemic epigenetic effects, subcutaneous or intramuscular injection is preferred (practitioner consensus).

Practitioner protocols typically use 10–20-day courses followed by 3–6 months off (community protocol). Continuous long-term use is unsupported by human safety data. In animal studies, effects on nerve regeneration and gene expression were studied after short courses.

Lyophilized Cortagen vials should be stored refrigerated (2–8°C). Reconstituted solution should be used within 24 hours and kept refrigerated if not used immediately; avoid freezing reconstituted peptide (community protocol). No stability data appear in the corpus.

Cortagen (Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro) and Epitalon (Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly) differ only by the C-terminal residue. Epitalon has more published data on pineal/melatonin and telomerase effects; Cortagen is more frequently associated with brain cortex and nerve repair. Unlike Cortexin, a bovine cortex polypeptide complex, Cortagen is a single defined tetrapeptide with lower immunogenic risk (practitioner consensus). In chronic cerebral ischemia models, Cortagen and Cortexin both corrected functional and metabolic brain disorders.

No human data. Avoid during pregnancy and breastfeeding (practitioner consensus). Preclinical and in vitro studies do not report specific teratogenicity, but they are insufficient to establish safety. Injection-site reactions, headache, and transient fatigue are reported anecdotally in community use.