Selank
Selank is the calm-without-the-fog option for stress and anxiety, built in Russia and still used there today. It works through the brain's own calming chemistry rather than sedating you the way a benzodiazepine does. People run it for anxiety, for everyday stress, and for staying level under pressure without the grogginess that comes with older medications. It's taken as intranasal drops, not a pill or injection.
What it does
Anxiety without the fog
Selank was built for people who need to feel calm and still function, not sedated. Developed in Russia and registered there as a prescription anxiolytic, it went head to head with the benzodiazepine medazepam in a controlled trial and produced comparable calming and anti-fatigue effects, without the early grogginess medazepam causes. That trial has only ever been published in Russian and has not been repeated by a Western research group.
Sources: Zozulya AA, Neznamov, 2008
Everyday stress and focus
For everyday stress rather than diagnosed anxiety, Selank has become a fixture in nootropic and stress-management routines, taken as drops before a demanding day or a stretch of pressure at work. The thinking is that it calms the brain's GABA system and helps the body's own calming peptides stick around longer. That broader everyday use is community practice built on the anxiety trial rather than its own study; nothing has tested it directly.
Sources: Zozulya AA, Neznamov, 2008, Kolomin T, et al.
Drops, not a shot
Selank is taken as drops in the nose, a few sprays at a time, not swallowed and not injected, even though injectable vials are sold online. Every dose with real evidence behind it, in the Russian registration and in the clinical trial, was delivered this way. An injectable version exists commercially, but no human dosing data exist for it, so anyone using the shot instead of the drops is working from an unverified schedule.
Dosing
Intranasal, Russian-registered product (0.15%) – No citable dose
No citable figure. The specific per-dose microgram amount and daily frequency used in the trial could not be confirmed from an English-language source in this research pass; treat any number circulating on vendor or forum sites as unsourced.
Injectable (subcutaneous) route – No citable dose
No citable figure. Injectable subcutaneous Selank is sold commercially as a research chemical, but no published human dosing data for the injectable route were found.
Community subcutaneous dosing – No citable dose
No citable figure. Community-practice doses (for example specific mcg/day subcutaneous protocols) circulate widely on vendor and forum sites but are not standardized and have no peer-reviewed source; mark any such figure as unpublished.
Primary structure
TThrKLysPProRArgPProGGlyPPro
Full research
Evidence tier
Human trials, not approved for this use
A controlled comparative human trial exists (Selank versus medazepam, n=62), so this is not merely anecdotal, but the trial is published only in a non-English Russian journal, its randomization and blinding methodology cannot be independently verified from the available abstract, it has not been replicated in Western literature, and Selank has never gone through FDA/EMA review. The anxiolytic claim should be treated as plausible but unconfirmed by international standards, not as established efficacy.
Identity
| Full name | Selank |
|---|---|
| Class | Synthetic heptapeptide analog of tuftsin, an endogenous immunomodulatory tetrapeptide, with a proline-glycine-proline extension added for stability |
| Molecular weight | 751.88 g/mol |
| Sequence | Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro (TKPRPGP) |
Mechanism of action
Plain language
Selank appears to act on the brain's calming (GABA) and stress-hormone systems and to slow the breakdown of the body's own opioid-like calming peptides (enkephalins), rather than acting like a benzodiazepine.
Technical
Proposed mechanisms include positive allosteric modulation of GABA-A receptor binding, inhibition of enkephalin-degrading aminopeptidases (extending the half-life of endogenous leu-enkephalin), modulation of hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression, and modulation of serotonin metabolism and cytokine balance under stress. The enkephalinase-inhibition mechanism is supported by an in-vitro/ex-vivo enzymatic study. The BDNF, cytokine, and monoamine mechanism claims rest primarily on rodent studies, not human mechanistic data.
Sources: Kolomin T, et al., Zolotarev YuA, et al., Kolik LG, et al., Volkova A, et al.
What it’s used for
Human trials, not approved for this use
- Selank is registered as a prescription anxiolytic/nootropic medicine in Russia, marketed there as nasal drops and first entering Russian clinical use in the 2000s; this is a Russian Ministry of Health registration, not an FDA or EMA approval. A Russian comparative clinical trial in generalized anxiety disorder and neurasthenia (62 patients, 30 on Selank versus 32 on the benzodiazepine comparator medazepam) reported anxiolytic efficacy on Hamilton, Zung, and Clinical Global Impression scales comparable to medazepam, without medazepam's early sedation, plus antiasthenic effects. This trial is published only in Russian; no independent English-language replication was found. Selank has no FDA or EMA approval, is not scheduled as a controlled substance in the United States, and has no approved indication in the US, EU, or UK.
Off-label / community use
- Widespread community and vendor use for anxiety, focus, and mood, with no controlled human data beyond the single Russian trial. Community-practice doses, including specific mcg/day subcutaneous protocols, circulate widely on vendor and forum sites but are not standardized and have no peer-reviewed source.
Sources: Zozulya AA, Neznamov, 2008
Pharmacokinetics
| Half-life, Tmax, and bioavailability |
Not established No citable figure. As a peptide, Selank is expected to have poor oral bioavailability and is administered intranasally or parenterally. No published human half-life, Tmax, or bioavailability data were located in this research pass. Vendor-cited plasma half-life figures could not be traced to a primary source and are treated as unsourced. |
|---|
Reconstitution
| Vial strength | 10 mg (also sold in 5 mg vials) |
|---|---|
| Diluent | Bacteriostatic water |
| Diluent volume | 1 mL |
| Concentration | 10 mg/mL (10,000 mcg/mL) |
Sources: Paramount Peptides, Selank, Streamlab Peptides, Selank
Dose calculator
Enter a vial strength, diluent volume, and desired dose to see the resulting concentration, dose volume, and units on a standard U-100 insulin syringe. Nothing entered here is saved, stored, or sent anywhere – the calculation runs only in your browser.
This calculator needs JavaScript. The arithmetic it runs is: concentration = vial strength in mg divided by diluent volume in mL; dose volume in mL = dose in mg divided by concentration; units on a U-100 syringe = dose volume in mL times 100.
Storage and post-reconstitution stability
Unopened storage
Lyophilized peptide stored frozen or refrigerated, protected from light, per standard peptide-handling practice; no Selank-specific stability study was located.
Post-reconstitution stability – Vendor claim
Vendor claims commonly state approximately 2 to 4 weeks refrigerated. Refrigerated, general peptide-handling practice
No citable figure. No Selank-specific post-reconstitution stability study was located in this research pass; the commonly cited 2-4 week refrigerated figure is an unsourced vendor and commercial claim, not data from a published stability study.
Safety
Notable risks
- No serious adverse events have been reported in the published Russian trial literature located for this research pass. No dedicated human pharmacovigilance data, contraindication list, or monitoring protocol from a regulatory body was found, because Selank has no FDA or EMA review. Given the lack of independent replication, any claim of a clean safety profile should be read as absence of evidence from a limited literature, not as proof of safety.
Sources: Zozulya AA, Neznamov, 2008
Sources
- PubChem CID 11765600, Selank
- Wikipedia, 'Selank' (secondary, cites structural/PK data consistent with PubChem)
- Institute of Molecular Genetics (Russian Academy of Sciences) origin and Russian regulatory registration, as described in secondary/vendor summaries
- Zozulya AA, Neznamov GG, Siuniakov TS, et al. Efficacy and possible mechanisms of action of a new peptide anxiolytic Selank in the therapy of generalized anxiety disorders and neurasthenia. Zhurnal Nevrologii i Psikhiatrii Imeni S.S. Korsakova. Non-English (Russian), human trial. (2008)
- Kolomin T, et al. The inhibitory effect of Selank on enkephalin-degrading enzymes as a possible mechanism of its anxiolytic activity. Mechanistic, in vitro/ex vivo.
- Zolotarev YuA, et al. Cytokine study under stress. Animal.
- Kolik LG, et al. Efficacy of peptide anxiolytic Selank during modeling of withdrawal syndrome in rats with stable alcoholic motivation. Animal (rats).
- Volkova A, et al. GABA, Selank, and Olanzapine Affect the Expression of Genes Involved in GABAergic Neurotransmission in IMR-32 Cells. In vitro (human neuroblastoma cell line).
- Selank, a Peptide Analog of Tuftsin, Attenuates Aversive Signs of Morphine Withdrawal in Rats. Animal.
- [Antiviral activity of immunomodulator Selank in experimental influenza infection]. Non-English, animal/in vitro.
- The influence of Selank on the parameters of the hemostasis system, lipid profile, and blood sugar level in the course of experimental metabolic syndrome. Animal.
- Paramount Peptides, Selank 10mg product page (commercial source, vial size only)
- Streamlab Peptides, Selank product page (commercial source, vial size only)
This is a research and educational reference, not medical advice. Nothing on this site is a recommendation to use any compound.