Selank
Also known as: Tuftsin analogue
An anti-anxiety peptide approved in Russia, with a small trial base that no independent group has reproduced.
Regulatory status: Registered as a medicine in Russia for generalised anxiety disorder; not approved in the UK, EU or US.
What it is
Selank is a synthetic analogue of tuftsin, a naturally occurring immune peptide, modified for stability. It is registered in Russia as a treatment for generalised anxiety disorder and sold elsewhere as a research chemical, usually as a nasal spray.
Composition
A modified tuftsin fragment carrying the same stabilising proline-glycine-proline tail used in Semax.
Proposed mechanism
Proposed mechanisms include modulation of GABA signalling and effects on brain-derived neurotrophic factor and serotonin turnover, largely from animal studies. It does not act at the benzodiazepine receptor site, which is the basis of the claim that it does not cause dependence.
Claimed benefits
Reduced anxiety without sedation, improved mood, and no dependence or withdrawal.
What the evidence shows
Silver· human data. Small Russian trials report anxiolytic effects comparable to benzodiazepines without sedation, which is the claim that drives its popularity. Those trials are small, domestic and not independently replicated. The mechanism is plausible; the evidence is thin.
The specific claim that it carries no dependence risk is mechanistically reasonable, since it does not act at the benzodiazepine site — but "no reported dependence in small short trials" is a weaker statement than it is usually made to sound.
Legal & regulatory status
Registered as a medicine in Russia. Not approved in the UK, EU or US. Anyone competing should check current WADA status directly.
Known risks & unknowns
Short-term tolerability in the Russian trials appears good. Independent long-term data do not exist. The more important point is contextual: anxiety is a real medical condition with treatments that have substantial evidence behind them, and substituting an unregulated peptide for those is a poor trade.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
- What is Selank?
- A synthetic analogue of tuftsin, a naturally occurring immune peptide, modified for stability. It is registered in Russia as an anxiolytic and is sold elsewhere as a research chemical, usually as a nasal spray.
- Does Selank reduce anxiety?
- Small Russian trials report anxiolytic effects comparable to benzodiazepines without sedation or dependence, which is the claim that drives its popularity. Those trials are small, domestic and not independently replicated, so this sits as preliminary rather than established — the mechanism is plausible and the evidence is thin.
- How is it supposed to work?
- Proposed mechanisms include modulation of GABA signalling and effects on brain-derived neurotrophic factor and serotonin turnover, largely from animal studies. It does not act on the benzodiazepine receptor site, which is the basis of the claim that it does not cause dependence.
- Is it safe?
- Short-term tolerability in the Russian trials appears good, with no reported dependence. Independent long-term data do not exist, and anyone taking it for anxiety is treating a real medical condition with an unregulated product instead of a treatment with an established evidence base.
Related compounds
- Semax (Silver)
An evidence-tiered explainer on Semax: a Russian-approved nootropic peptide whose entire evidence base sits outside the literature the rest of the world reads.
- DSIP (Unproven)
An evidence-tiered explainer on DSIP (delta sleep-inducing peptide): named for an effect that fifty years of research has not reliably reproduced.
- PT-141 (Bremelanotide) (Gold)
An evidence-tiered explainer on PT-141 (bremelanotide, Vyleesi): a melanocortin agonist with FDA approval for a specific sexual-health condition, a useful contrast to the unapproved peptides.
Written and reviewed by Mathew Beale, MSc Biotechnology, University of Reading.
Last reviewed: