Selank — 10mg

Selank (Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro) is a heptapeptide developed by the Russian Institute of Molecular Genetics as a synthetic analog of Tuftsin, an endogenous tetrapeptide fragment of IgG. The addition of a Pro-Gly-Pro C-terminal sequence dramatically improves stability against peptidase degradation compared to native Tuftsin, enabling meaningful CNS exposure. Selank is approved in Russia for anxiety and cognitive disorders and has been the subject of controlled trials that provide a stronger evidence base than is typical for research peptides.

Its anxiolytic mechanism differs fundamentally from benzodiazepines despite sharing the GABA-A receptor as a target: Selank acts as a positive allosteric modulator at the benzodiazepine binding site but without the full agonist efficacy that drives tolerance development and physical dependence. Alongside this GABAergic effect, it elevates BDNF levels in the hippocampus, influences dopaminergic and serotonergic tone, and inhibits enkephalinase — the enzyme that degrades endogenous enkephalins — extending the duration of endogenous opioid-like calm without receptor activation by an exogenous agonist.

Controlled studies have demonstrated anxiolytic effects comparable to medazepam (a classical benzodiazepine) in generalized anxiety models, without the sedation, motor impairment, or withdrawal phenomena associated with full GABA-A agonists. Under chronic mild stress paradigms, Selank has been shown to enhance the efficacy of co-administered diazepam, suggesting synergistic rather than redundant mechanisms. Its immune-modulatory effects inherited from the Tuftsin scaffold add a further dimension of biological interest.