What it is
Selank is a synthetic heptapeptide built from the immune tetrapeptide tuftsin extended with a stabilising Pro-Gly-Pro tail. It was developed in Russia, where it is registered as an anxiolytic, and it appears in anxiety, stress-response and neuroimmune research. Almost all of its clinical literature is Russian, with no Western randomised trial.
How it works
Selank has no identified receptor of its own. It is thought to act indirectly, by slowing the breakdown of endogenous enkephalins and by shifting expression of GABAergic genes. It does not bind a benzodiazepine site.
Regulatory status
- Cosmetic ingredient
- Research compound
- In clinical trials
- Approved medicine
Not approved as a medicine by the FDA or the EMA. Some are registered in individual countries. Supplied for laboratory research only.
What published research is studying
- Anxiety and asthenia symptoms in adults with generalized anxiety disorder and neurasthenia
- Whether adding it to a benzodiazepine changes response speed and reported side effects
- Enkephalin half-life and cytokine expression in patients with anxiety-asthenic disorders
- Expression of GABAergic neurotransmission genes in rodent brain
Key findings
In 62 patients with generalized anxiety disorder and neurasthenia, selank (30 patients) produced anxiolytic effects similar to medazepam (32 patients) on Hamilton, Zung and CGI scales.
Zozulia AA et al., Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova 2008In the same study, serum leu-enkephalin half-life was reduced at baseline and rose during selank administration, correlating with lower anxiety scores in the generalized anxiety disorder group.
Zozulia AA et al., Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova 2008In a study of 70 patients with anxiety disorders, adding selank to phenazepam accelerated the therapeutic effect. Reported sedation and cognitive side effects were lower than with phenazepam alone.
Medvedev VE et al., Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova 2015In rat frontal cortex, selank altered expression of 45 of 84 neurotransmission-related genes at 1 hour after administration, with 22 still altered at 3 hours.
Volkova A et al., Front Pharmacol 2016
What the studies measured
Study durations
- Comparative anxiety study in 62 patients: given as a treatment course, whose length the published abstract does not state (Zozulia et al. 2008).
- Healthy-volunteer imaging study: resting-state fMRI recorded before, 5 minutes and 20 minutes after a single injection in 52 participants (Panikratova et al. 2020).
- Rodent gene-expression study: frontal cortex sampled 1 hour and 3 hours after administration (Volkova et al. 2016).
Endpoints
- Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale score
- Zung self-rating anxiety score
- Clinical Global Impression rating
- Serum leu-enkephalin half-life
- Resting-state functional connectivity of the amygdala
How strong is the evidence?
Human evidence is limited to small Russian studies, mostly open or active-comparator rather than placebo-controlled, and none has been replicated in a Western randomised trial.
Common questions
Is Selank an approved medicine?
Research compound. Not approved as a medicine by the FDA or the EMA. Some are registered in individual countries. Supplied for laboratory research only.
How much human research is there on Selank?
Human evidence is limited to small Russian studies, mostly open or active-comparator rather than placebo-controlled, and none has been replicated in a Western randomised trial.
Does UU supply Selank?
Yes, as premium-grade research material for laboratory use. Every batch is tested by an independent lab and the certificate of analysis is published.