F tier · safety concern
PubMed returns zero records for N-acetyl epitalon under any spelling and ClinicalTrials.gov returns zero registered studies for epitalon in any form, so there is not one published experiment - human, animal or in vitro - on the acetylated molecule itself. Every claim made for it is transposed from unmodified epitalon, whose own record is a single St Petersburg group publishing largely in Russian journals and which this index already grades D.
n-acetyl epitalon
N-Acetyl epitalon is the tetrapeptide epitalon (Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly) with an acetyl group on the N-terminal alanine, sold by research-chemical vendors as a supposedly more stable or more bioavailable version of epitalon. PubChem records the free-acid form as a distinct compound, but no published study of any kind has tested it. The longevity, telomerase and pineal claims attached to it belong entirely to the unmodified peptide.
// we supply this one
available as a research reagent
≥ 98% HPLC · lyophilised powder · batch certificate published. Grade F above is our own and is not adjusted because we stock it.
the explanation
This is the well-known research peptide epitalon with one small chemical group added to one end. Sellers say the change makes it last longer in the body. Nobody has published a single study on the modified version - not in people, not in animals, not even in cells - so every benefit listed on a product page is copied from the original peptide, and the original peptide's own evidence is weak and comes from one Russian research group.
regulatory status
Unapproved everywhere; no marketing authorisation, no registered trial, no cosmetic listing
N-Acetyl epitalon holds no marketing authorisation as a medicine in the UK, EU, US or anywhere else, is not a licensed or prescription-only medicinal product, and is not a controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Unlike the topical cosmetic peptides in this batch it has no INCI listing and no cosmetic-ingredient status, so it does not sit inside the UK or EU cosmetics framework either; it exists only as a research chemical sold under research-use-only labelling. MHRA Guidance Note 8 weighs product presentation and form, including injectables, alongside claims when deciding whether something is a medicinal product by presentation or by function, and a vial marketed with anti-ageing or telomerase claims sits squarely in that assessment. An injectable synthetic peptide of this kind cannot lawfully be sold as a food supplement in the UK or as a dietary supplement in the US, and there is no documented permitted-ingredient status for it. It is not named on the current WADA Prohibited List, but section S0 prohibits at all times any pharmacological substance with no current approval by any governmental regulatory health authority for human therapeutic use, which describes this compound exactly.
how it works · proposed mechanism
There is no mechanism established for N-acetyl epitalon, because no experiment has been performed on it. What can be described is the mechanism claimed for its parent and the general chemistry of the modification, together with the reasons neither transfers automatically.
What N-terminal acetylation actually does
Capping the alpha-amino group with an acetyl group removes a positive charge and blocks recognition by aminopeptidases, one of the standard ways of extending the half-life of a short peptide; the strategy is described in the peptide ADME literature alongside C-terminal amidation and backbone modification. For a four-residue peptide the effect on proteolytic survival can be substantial. It is a plausible chemical rationale and it has not been measured for this molecule.
The same change can abolish activity
In short peptides the free N-terminus is frequently part of the pharmacophore, and epitalon's proposed activity has been attributed to sequence-specific interaction with DNA and with gene promoter regions where charge matters. Acetylation therefore cuts both ways: it may protect the peptide or it may prevent the interaction that was supposed to make it useful. No binding, transcriptional or cellular comparison of Ac-AEDG against AEDG has been published to settle the question.
The parent's claimed mechanism, unreplicated
The epitalon literature - telomerase induction and telomere elongation in human somatic cell culture, extension of maximum rather than mean lifespan in rodents, circadian and gene-expression effects in senescing pineal and thymic cells - comes overwhelmingly from Khavinson's St Petersburg group, published largely in Russian journals such as Advances in Gerontology and Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine. In the mouse lifespan study the reported gains were 13.3% in the last decile of survivors and 12.3% in maximum lifespan, with no effect on mean lifespan. There has been no independent Western replication in two decades.
Identity ambiguity in what is actually sold
PubChem lists N-Acetyl Epitalon as the free acid, but a large share of vendor products are labelled N-Acetyl Epitalon Amidate, which is additionally amidated at the C-terminus and is therefore a third distinct molecule with a different formula and mass. Vendors use the names interchangeably, and no certificate-of-analysis convention distinguishes them reliably. A buyer cannot tell from the label which of the three related compounds is in the vial.
what’s reported
evidence shape
7 sourcesThe composition of the cited literature by study type. This describes the shape of the evidence, not its quality — and it does not by itself set the grade.
⚠ the catch
There is no separate evidence for the acetylated form - not a single published experiment. A PubMed search for N-acetyl epitalon, acetyl epithalon and N-acetyl-AEDG returns zero records, and ClinicalTrials.gov returns zero registered studies for epitalon in any form, so every benefit a vendor lists is transposed wholesale from unmodified epitalon. That parent record is itself weak: essentially all of it comes from one St Petersburg group, published largely in Russian-language gerontology journals, with no independent Western replication in two decades, and the flagship rodent result was a 12.3% increase in maximum lifespan with no effect on mean lifespan - which is why this index grades plain epitalon D. Acetylation is a real and sensible stabilising modification, but for a four-residue peptide whose proposed action depends on sequence- and charge-specific interactions, capping the N-terminus could equally destroy the activity, and nobody has checked. Worse, the identity of what is sold is unsettled: many products called N-Acetyl Epitalon are in fact the C-terminally amidated variant, a different molecule with a different mass, and the names are used interchangeably across vendors.
key published findings
- PubMed returns zero records for N-acetyl epitalon, acetyl epithalon or N-acetyl-AEDG, so there is no published study of the acetylated molecule at all.
- ClinicalTrials.gov returns zero registered studies for epitalon under any spelling, and therefore none for the acetylated analogue.
- PubChem does record the compound (CID 171390141, N-Acetyl Epitalon, molecular formula C16H24N4O10, molar mass 432.38, UNII UXR7AF6R4F) but lists no CAS registry number and no bioactivity data.
- The parent peptide's headline rodent result (Anisimov 2003, Biogerontology) was a 13.3% extension of the last 10% of survivors and a 12.3% increase in maximum lifespan in female SHR mice, with explicitly no effect on mean lifespan, plus a 6.0-fold reduction in leukaemia incidence.
- The human-cell work behind epitalon's telomerase claims and the gene-expression and neurogenesis studies (for example Khavinson 2020, Molecules; Khavinson 2020, Stem Cell Reviews and Reports) are in vitro and come from the same research group, not from independent laboratories.
- N-terminal acetylation is an established route to blocking aminopeptidase cleavage and improving peptide stability, as described in the peptide ADME literature - but no stability, exposure or activity measurement has been reported for Ac-AEDG specifically.
limitations of the evidence
- Zero published studies exist on the acetylated compound, so nothing about its potency, stability, exposure, distribution or safety is known; every property claimed for it is inferred.
- The parent compound's evidence base is single-group and unreplicated outside Russia, and its strongest lifespan signal was on maximum rather than mean lifespan.
- Because the N-terminus of a tetrapeptide is likely part of the pharmacophore, acetylation may reduce or abolish activity rather than improve it, and no head-to-head comparison has been published.
- No CAS registry number could be verified for the compound, and the chemistry given here is for the free acid; products labelled amidate are a different molecule and this entry's formula and mass do not apply to them.
- Vendor nomenclature is inconsistent across epitalon, epitalon amidate and N-acetyl epitalon amidate, so a purchaser cannot reliably determine what has been supplied without independent analysis.
- No human pharmacokinetic data exist for any epitalon variant, so claims of improved bioavailability have no measurable baseline to improve on.
documented safety signals
- No adverse-event data exist for the acetylated compound in any species; the absence of reported harm reflects the complete absence of study rather than any demonstration of safety.
- Because the compound has no cosmetic-ingredient listing and no medicinal authorisation, no regulator has ever assessed its toxicology, impurity profile or immunogenicity.
- Synthetic short peptides supplied as research chemicals carry documented risks of impurity, endotoxin contamination and incorrect identity, and here the identity risk is elevated by interchangeable naming of three related molecules.
- The parent peptide is proposed to act on telomerase and cell-division limits; any agent claimed to extend proliferative capacity carries a theoretical oncological concern that has never been formally investigated in humans for either form.
identity
| full name | N-Acetyl epitalon (N-acetyl-Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly), the N-terminally acetylated analogue of the pineal tetrapeptide epitalon |
| category | Longevity |
| modality | peptide |
| formula | C16H24N4O10 |
| molar mass | 432.38 g/mol |
| sequence | Ac-Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly |
laboratory handling
| storage | Lyophilised powder is stored desiccated at -20 °C and protected from light. Once reconstituted, laboratory practice is refrigeration at 2-8 °C for short-term use, or aliquoting and freezing to avoid repeated freeze-thaw cycles. Handling information only; this material has no approved human use. |
| solubility | Short hydrophilic peptide, readily soluble in sterile or bacteriostatic water and in dilute aqueous buffer. Lot-specific solubility is stated on the certificate of analysis. |
| co-studied with | Vendors commonly bundle it with other Khavinson-derived short peptides such as thymalin-type or cortexin-type sequences; none of those combinations has ever been studied, and stacking compounds with no individual evidence does not produce evidence. |
Handling information describes laboratory practice for a research reagent. It is not a preparation guide for use in humans.
the receipts
7 citedMedicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency · 2025 · official
United States Anti-Doping Agency · 2026 · official
The AAPS Journal · 2015 · review
PubChem, National Library of Medicine · 2026 · reference
Biogerontology · 2003 · preclinical
Molecules · 2020 · preclinical
Stem Cell Reviews and Reports · 2020 · preclinical
others in Longevity