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Pick up to three peptides to see how their mechanisms, studied uses and evidence levels differ. Rows where the entries disagree are marked with a blue edge.
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Comparison
Selank
Cognitive & neuro
Evidence level
Limited evidence
Approval status
Approved drug
Mechanism of action
- 1.Reported to act on GABA-A receptor expression and to inhibit enkephalin breakdown, prolonging the effect of the body's own opioid peptides.
- 2.Described as influencing monoamine turnover in the brain.
- 3.Reported to modulate interleukin-6 and other immune signalling molecules, which is why it is classed as both neuro and immune active.
- 4.Most mechanistic evidence comes from Russian laboratory and animal work rather than independent replication.
Studied for
- Generalised anxiety disorder (Russian clinical studies)
- Stress and anxiety in medically ill patients
- Cognitive performance under stress
- Immune and cytokine response
Reported effects
- Reduced anxiety scores in Russian trials of a few dozen participants
- Reported improvements in attention and memory under stress
- No sedation reported in the published work
- Independent replication outside Russia is essentially absent
Side effects
- Reported as well tolerated in Russian studies
- Possible nasal irritation with the spray form
- Headache and fatigue reported occasionally
- Independent long-term safety data are not available
Research protocol
Research context only — in Russia it is prescribed as a nasal spray, typically in short courses set by a physician. Western research has no standard protocol, and online recommendations are not clinically validated.
Research context only
Evidence justification
There are published clinical studies, but they are small, conducted in a single country, and have not been independently replicated in large randomised trials outside that setting.