Cognitive & neuro

Selank

A synthetic peptide developed in Russia as an anxiolytic, registered there as a medicine. Western trial data are minimal, so claims should be read cautiously.

Limited evidenceApproved drugAdd to compare

What it is

Selank is a synthetic seven-amino-acid peptide derived from tuftsin, an immune peptide, with a stabilising modification. It is registered as a prescription anxiolytic medicine in Russia but has not been approved in the EU or US, and independent Western trials are scarce.

How it works

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.

What it's studied for

Generalised anxiety disorder (Russian clinical studies)

Stress and anxiety in medically ill patients

Cognitive performance under stress

Immune and cytokine response

Reported and studied 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

Research protocol notes

Research context only

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.

These figures are described so you can understand what researchers did. They are not a dose, a schedule, or a suggestion — and they are not a substitute for a doctor.

Possible side effects and contraindications

Safety profile

Possible 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

Contraindications and cautions

Hypersensitivity to the peptide
Pregnancy and breastfeeding
Concurrent psychiatric medication requires medical review
Not evaluated in children

A side-effect list is never complete, and these are not the only situations that warrant caution. Anything unexpected, or anything you are unsure about, should be discussed with a doctor before use.

Evidence assessment

Limited evidenceSmall human studies or animal data only

Small human studies or animal data only

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.

References

References link to published literature, regulator pages or literature indexes. Where a link points to a search, it collects the peer-reviewed work on that molecule rather than a single study.

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