Cortagen common uses, half-life, side effects and more

Cortagen is a synthetic tetrapeptide with the sequence Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro. It belongs to the Russian short peptide bioregulator family and is sold for memory, focus, and brain aging. Its sequence was designed from the composition of a brain cortex extract called Cortexin. Cortexin is a registered prescription medicine in Russia and Cortagen is not. Cortagen never became a medicine or a registered supplement in any country. Sellers ship it as research material while printing human dosing schedules. The vials and capsules on sale have unverified identity, strength, and sterility.

• Focus and mental clarity
• Cognitive aging claims
• Nerve injury recovery research
• Brain ischemia and neuroprotection research
• Longevity bioregulator cycles

Once daily during courses of 10 to 30 days

The only human dosing on record is 1 to 10 mcg per intramuscular injection once daily. A patent series gave 1 mcg daily for 10 days after head injury and 3 mcg daily for 30 days for vascular dementia. A Russian research ampule holds 10 mcg in 1 mL and is given daily for 10 days with courses repeated after 1 to 3 months. Western vendors sell 20 mg vials for injection and almost all of them refuse to state any dose. The dosing pages that do state one give 0.5 to 2 mg daily. That is between about 200 and 2000 times the amount used in the only human series. A nasal spray sold in Russia gives 200 to 400 mcg daily for 30 days. Oral capsules are sold without disclosing how much peptide each one holds.

• A 20 mg vial holds roughly 2000 daily doses at the amount used in the only human series
• Courses run 10 to 30 days and repeat after 1 to 3 months rather than running continuously
• Cortexin dosing should not be carried across because Cortexin is a different product made from brain tissue

No plasma half-life has been established for Cortagen in any species. The investigators closest to the compound have written that its pharmacology and pharmacokinetics remain unclear.

• Anxiety-like behavior in mice at both the lowest and highest doses tested that persisted after dosing stopped
• Increased movement and stimulation in mice at the one middle dose that raised activity
• Headache, dizziness, and stomach discomfort claimed on vendor pages with no source behind them

Cortagen is the tetrapeptide Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro. It has no known receptor target and no established human mechanism. Its sequence was worked out from the amino acid composition of one fraction of a brain cortex extract. That makes it a synthetic stand-in for part of a mixture rather than the mixture's active ingredient. Rat studies report faster nerve fiber regrowth and faster conduction after intramuscular Cortagen. A mouse study found it altered the activity of 234 genes in heart tissue after five subcutaneous doses. Mouse behavior work found it raised movement at one dose and produced anxiety-like behavior at the doses above and below that one. Rat work found it blocked the effects of a dopamine-stimulating drug and worked against an antipsychotic. No human study of how it works has been published.

The evidence is thin and comes almost entirely from the group that patented it. Fifteen papers mention Cortagen and none is a clinical trial. The only human data sits inside a patent. That patent reports 35 people with head injury sequelae and 12 with vascular dementia. It gives no adverse event reporting. The same patent carries animal toxicity work in mice and rats that found no toxic effects at doses far above the therapeutic one. Two published studies test Cortagen alongside the brain extract it came from and report the two as a unit. Nothing in those can be attributed to Cortagen alone. One paper from the originating group states that Cortagen produced a therapeutic effect on nerve recovery in humans. Its supporting citation points to a rat experiment. The extract has roughly 200 published papers and a marketing authorisation while Cortagen has neither. First-hand accounts number about six and all describe an oral capsule that does not disclose its peptide content.

• Gray-market dosing pages recommend hundreds of times the amount used in the only human series on record
• Certificates of analysis for this peptide confirm purity without stating which sequence was matched
• Some sellers describe Cortagen as an adrenal peptide for cortisol and stress when it was derived from brain tissue
• Cortagen worked against an antipsychotic drug in rats so anyone taking one should treat the combination as untested
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding safety has not been studied
• The clinical record behind the brain extract does not transfer because no clinical trial of Cortagen exists