Educational use only — not medical advice. This guide summarizes information reported in published research and community practice for educational purposes. It is not medical advice and not a recommendation to use any compound. Any doses, schedules, or combinations shown are examples of what has been reported, not instructions for you. Many peptides described here are research compounds that are not FDA-approved for the uses discussed and may be investigational or restricted. Effects, risks, and legal status vary; individual needs and results vary. Consult a qualified, licensed healthcare professional before making any decision. Do not use this content to diagnose, treat, or dose yourself.
Selank at a glance
- What it is
- Selank, the synthetic heptapeptide Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro - a stabilized analog of the immune peptide tuftsin
- Researched for
- Anxiety, stress adaptation and cognitive research contexts
- Commonly reported range
- Research and community examples of roughly 250-500 mcg per administration (no established Western dose)
- Route reported
- Predominantly intranasal; subcutaneous injection is described in research settings
- Reported frequency
- Once to three times daily in reported protocols
- Reported cycle
- Community examples of 2-4 week courses
- Plasma half-life
- No primary pharmacokinetic study establishing a plasma half-life for Selank was located in any species; the figures in circulation trace back to leu-enkephalin's half-life, which Selank lengthens. Reported effects outlast any plausible plasma exposure
- Regulatory status
- Not FDA-approved. Registered as a medicine in Russia; research use only elsewhere
Reported ranges from research/community — examples, not recommendations.
What it is / mechanism
Selank is a synthetic analog of tuftsin, a naturally occurring immunomodulatory tetrapeptide fragment of immunoglobulin G, extended with a Pro-Gly-Pro tail that substantially increases its stability against enzymatic degradation. Published research describes several proposed mechanisms rather than a single receptor target. It is reported to modulate the expression and metabolism of monoamines, particularly serotonin, and to influence GABAergic signaling indirectly - which is the proposed basis for anxiolytic effects without the sedation, motor impairment or dependence associated with benzodiazepines. It has also been reported to increase brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression, to affect enkephalin degradation by inhibiting enkephalin-degrading enzymes, and to retain some of tuftsin's immunomodulatory activity including effects on cytokine balance. The absence of a single well-characterized receptor is a genuine gap in the mechanistic picture.
Researched effects
In Russian clinical and preclinical research Selank has been associated with reduced anxiety, improved stress adaptation, and modest effects on attention and memory, generally described as occurring without sedation, cognitive dulling, withdrawal or dependence - the contrast with benzodiazepines is the recurring theme in this literature. Some studies report antidepressant-adjacent and nootropic effects. These are reported research findings, largely from a single national research tradition and mostly not independently replicated in Western trials, so they carry meaningful uncertainty. Nothing here is a promise of efficacy or a personal recommendation.
Evidence & regulatory status
- Evidence base: developed at the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences with the Zakusov Institute of Pharmacology. Clinical studies in generalized anxiety disorder and neurasthenia have been published, largely in Russian-language journals, alongside preclinical work on monoamine and BDNF effects.
- A caution on source concentration: as with several peptides in this family, the literature originates predominantly from Russian research groups and has seen limited independent Western replication. Study sizes are generally small.
- Regulatory status: Selank is registered and prescribed as a medicine in Russia but is not FDA-approved and is not an approved medicine in the United States. Material supplied here is for laboratory and research purposes only.
Dosage — reported ranges (overview)
The figures below are examples of what has been reported in research and community settings, not a recommendation. The Russian pharmaceutical product is a 0.15% intranasal solution, with reported daily amounts commonly in the range of a few hundred micrograms to around 900 mcg divided across the day. Community protocols for research material commonly describe 250 to 500 mcg per administration, once to three times daily, for courses of two to four weeks. Intranasal is the predominant route in both the registered product and most research, which is worth noting before assuming injection is the default. There is no established dose outside the Russian registration, and no FDA-approved labeling of any kind.
A printable protocol sheet with a reconstitution reference and an injection log comes with All-Access Lifetime.
Reconstitution — bac-water math
Selank is dosed in micrograms, so reconstitution is a concentration calculation where small errors matter. Add bacteriostatic water to the lyophilized vial and the concentration is the vial's total mg divided by the water volume in mL. On a U-100 insulin syringe, 100 units equals 1 mL, so units to draw = dose (mg) / concentration (mg/mL) x 100. Worked example: a 10 mg vial reconstituted with 2 mL of bacteriostatic water gives 5 mg/mL, which is 5000 mcg/mL; a 500 mcg example is then 0.5 / 5 = 0.1 mL, which is 10 units on a U-100 syringe. Because the amounts are in micrograms, the resulting unit marks are small and a decimal error is a tenfold error - work in one unit system consistently. This is concentration math only, not a personal dose.
| Bac water added | Concentration | 250 mcg (example) | 500 mcg (example) |
|---|
| 1 mL | 10 mg/mL (10,000 mcg/mL) | 250 mcg = 2.5 units | 500 mcg = 5 units |
| 2 mL | 5 mg/mL (5,000 mcg/mL) | 250 mcg = 5 units | 500 mcg = 10 units |
| 3 mL | 3.3 mg/mL (3,333 mcg/mL) | 250 mcg = 7.5 units | 500 mcg = 15 units |
This is concentration math, not a dose recommendation.
Injection / administration basics
The registered Russian product and most published research use the intranasal route, delivered as drops or a metered spray, which is the primary route for this compound rather than an alternative to injection. Where subcutaneous injection is described in research settings it uses a U-100 insulin syringe with aseptic technique and site rotation. General handling concepts - sterile technique, site rotation, consistent timing - are covered here as general information; the detailed workflow comes with All-Access Lifetime, which includes the printable protocol sheet and injection log for every compound. This is general educational information, not a personal administration protocol; a qualified professional should guide any actual use.
Half-life & frequency rationale
No primary pharmacokinetic study establishing a plasma half-life for Selank has been located in any species, and the figures in circulation - most often "20-30 minutes" - trace back to studies in which the half-life measured belongs to leu-enkephalin, the peptide Selank protects from degradation by inhibiting enkephalinases, rather than to Selank itself (PMID 11550013, PMID 12432865). What is documented for Selank is the degradation pathway rather than a rate: a tritium-labelling study identified the pentapeptide TKPRP, the tripeptide TKP and the dipeptides RP and GP as its major plasma breakdown products (PMID 16637290). The Pro-Gly-Pro tail extends stability relative to native tuftsin but has not been shown to produce a long plasma half-life. Reported behavioral effects are described as outlasting measurable plasma concentrations, which the literature attributes to downstream changes in monoamine and neurotrophic signaling rather than to sustained exposure. This is the stated rationale for repeated daily administration in reported protocols.
Side effects, safety & contraindications
Selank is generally described as well tolerated in the available studies, with reported issues limited mainly to local irritation from intranasal administration, occasional headache, and injection-site reactions where injected. It is specifically reported not to produce the sedation, motor impairment, tolerance, withdrawal or dependence associated with benzodiazepines, which is a central claim of this literature. As with Epithalon, the thinness and national concentration of the evidence base means an apparently clean safety profile is weaker evidence than it first appears, and long-term safety has not been established in independent trials. These are reported observations, not an exhaustive safety profile, and nothing here is medical advice.
Stacking — overview
Selank is very commonly discussed alongside Semax, the two being the best-known peptides from the same Russian research tradition and often described as complementary - Selank framed around anxiety and Semax around focus and cognition. Community discussion also pairs it with DSIP in sleep and stress contexts. These reflect reported pairings, not recommendations, and combination evidence is essentially absent.
Russian nootropic pairing (reported)
Selank + Semax
Sleep and stress discussion (reported)
Selank + DSIP
Amidate variants (reported)
N-Acetyl Selank Amidate + N-Acetyl Semax Amidate
Stacking across compounds
The overview above covers Selank. The cross-compound material — which pairings are redundant rather than additive, where interaction risk is documented versus merely unstudied, and the blend arithmetic worked end to end — lives in the Peptide Stacking Guide, which is free to read in outline and $39 in full (included with All-Access Lifetime).
Included with this guide
The Selank Stacking Module
The overview above is the free summary. The Selank Stacking Module goes through each combination in depth — the mechanism-level reason it is proposed, what is actually reported in practice, and the cautions specific to that pairing — plus what to avoid and why. Included with Selank Standard Access.
- How to think about stacking Selank — 4 principles
- 3 combinations covered in detail
- What to avoid, and why — 4 items
- Combination-specific cautions
Combinations covered: Russian nootropic pairing, Sleep and stress discussion, Mood and anxiety discussion.
For how combinations are grouped by research context, the named blends, and why a pre-mixed blend vial cannot be calculated from its total milligrams, see the peptide stacks guide.
Storage & handling
- Lyophilized (unreconstituted) vials are typically stored refrigerated and protected from light; the sealed powder is generally described as stable at room temperature for short periods before use.
- After reconstitution, keep refrigerated at about 2-8 C, protect from light, and use within a few weeks; do not freeze and avoid shaking.
References
Sources include research from the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Zakusov Institute of Pharmacology on Selank's development and anxiolytic profile; published clinical studies in generalized anxiety disorder and neurasthenia; and preclinical work on monoamine metabolism, BDNF expression and enkephalin degradation. Readers should note that this literature is predominantly Russian-language, generally small in study size, and has seen limited independent Western replication.
Related peptide guides
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Guide FAQ
Quick answers about guide scope, access, and educational use context.
What is Selank?
Selank is a synthetic heptapeptide (Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro) derived from the immune peptide tuftsin with a stabilizing Pro-Gly-Pro extension. It is studied in Russian research as an anxiolytic reported to work without sedation or dependence. It is registered as a medicine in Russia but is not FDA-approved and is supplied here for research use only.
Is Selank taken intranasally or injected?
Intranasal is the predominant route - the registered Russian product is a 0.15% intranasal solution and most published research uses that route. Subcutaneous injection is described in some research settings, but it is worth knowing that the evidence base is built mainly on intranasal administration rather than injection.
What Selank dose is reported?
Community protocols for research material commonly describe 250 to 500 mcg per administration, once to three times daily, over two to four week courses; the Russian product's reported daily amounts run from a few hundred micrograms up to around 900 mcg divided across the day. There is no established dose outside the Russian registration - these are reported examples, not a recommendation.
How does Selank compare with Semax?
They come from the same Russian research tradition and are frequently discussed together. Selank derives from tuftsin and is framed around anxiety and stress adaptation; Semax derives from an ACTH fragment and is framed around focus, attention and neuroprotection. Both are registered in Russia, neither is FDA-approved, and both have evidence bases concentrated in Russian-language literature.
Does this page tell me how much Selank to use?
No. The amounts shown are examples reported in research and community settings, provided for educational context. This page does not recommend a personal dose, route or frequency and is not medical advice - consult a qualified professional about any actual use.
Compliance and trust notes
- Educational content only; no personalized health or outcome claims.
- No personalized use recommendation outputs.
- Use this material for general learning and research-context literacy.
