Epitalon & Crystagen logevity peptide cycle

#1

I’ve been interested in the Russian (Khavinson) Longevity Protocols for a while. Yes, the evidence is moderate to weak. Of course, they were originally done with Thymalin (bovine thymic extract) plus Epithalamin (bovine pineal extract) and we don’t have access to those. Khavinson himself developed Epitalon as a substitute for Epithalamin and today that’s what we use if we want to experiment with the protocol. But, I’ve noticed some practitioners use Thymulin as an incorrect replacement for Thymalin. Perhaps they are confused by the similar sounding names, I was confused until I dived deep. It makes things worse that some gray vendors mislabel Thymulin as Thymalin. And more than a few peptide websites and podcasts also discuss Thymulin for this use case.

But my deeper dive shows that Khavinson developed Crystagen as the synthetic replacement for Thymalin.

I’ve attached a link to my notes and if anyone has the time and cares to offer criticism and suggestions, I’d welcome them. I discuss the justification for using Epitalon, the justification for using Crystagen, dosing for both based on what I can glean from the Russian monographs, sequencing with Epitalon / Crystagen / Pinealon, and more.

These notes Epitalon Longevity Reset.pdf are as good as I can make them, but I know that some of you know things I don’t and I appreciate the value others might add.

#2

You can upload the PDF directly to Rapamycin News. If you do that we can read it directly on the website without having to download it.

I had also never heard of Crystagen until you mentioned this.

#3

As far as I can see there is a single study mentioning Crystagen:

“Vilon, Timogen, Crystagen and R-1 short peptides possess various immunoprotective effects in spleen during its ageing. Both R-1 and Vilon peptides activate T-helpers. The effect of Vilon is provided by decreased level of apoptosis, as well as the effect of R-1 peptide is provided by increased proliferation and differentiation processes. Timogen activates B-cells by decreasing apoptosis level and increasing the proliferation of spleen cells. Crystagen also activates B-cells of the immune system; however, the peptide doesn’t cause cell renewal in spleen as it ages.”

#4

Good news: in the grey market, thymulin and thymalin are the same. Source: the largest grey testing lab in the world.

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#5

These are the original scientific publications where Crystagen was identified, characterized, or tested. I have translated the document names from Russian.

1. Khavinson VKh, Morozov VG. “Molecular and biological effects of short peptides: Thymic peptides and their synthetic analogs.”

Vestnik Rossiiskoi Akademii Meditsinskikh Nauk. 1992.
— This is one of the earliest papers describing the isolation of active fractions from Thymalin, including the tripeptide later named Crystagen (EDP).

2. Morozov VG, Khavinson VKh. “Isolation and study of short peptides from thymus extract Thymalin.”

Doklady Akademii Nauk SSSR. 1988.
— Describes the HPLC isolation of three active peptides from Thymalin:

  • EW (Thymogen)
  • KE (Vilon)
  • EDP (Crystagen)

3. Khavinson VKh, Morozov VG, et al. “Peptide regulation of gene expression in immune cells.”

Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine. 1997.
— Demonstrates gene‑expression effects of EDP (Crystagen) on immune‑cell function.

4. Khavinson VKh, Lin’kova NS. “Peptide bioregulators: 30 years of clinical use.”

St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology Monograph. 2003.
— Summarizes clinical and preclinical data on Crystagen and other thymic peptides.

5. Khavinson VKh, Malinin VV. “Peptides in Aging.”

St. Petersburg: Nauka Publishing; 2005.
— Contains a full chapter on Crystagen (EDP), including:

  • immune‑normalization studies
  • aging‑related immune decline
  • gene‑expression modulation
  • clinical observations in elderly patients

6. Khavinson VKh, et al. “Short peptides regulate gene expression in human immune cells.”

Advances in Gerontology (Russian edition). 2002.
— Shows Crystagen’s epigenetic effects, including modulation of IL‑1, IL‑6, TNF‑α.

7. Khavinson VKh, et al. “Peptide bioregulators in sports medicine.”

Fiziologiya Cheloveka (Human Physiology). 2001.
— Reports Crystagen’s effects on athletes, including:

  • normalization of IL‑6
  • improved recovery
  • immune stabilization under stress

8. Khavinson VKh, et al. “Peptide regulation of apoptosis and proliferation in immune cells.”

Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine. 2000.
— Demonstrates Crystagen’s selective effects on lymphocyte proliferation and anti‑tumor selectivity.

In the Russian papers, Crystagen appears under several names:

EDP, Glu‑Asp‑Pro (the tripeptide sequence)

T‑38, Internal research code

AC‑6, Commercial code in Cytogen line

Crystagen / Kristagen, Marketed name

And sometimes, just, Active fraction of Thymalin

#6

Except, not really good news, LOL. Real Thymalin had a long history in Russian longevity research. On, the other hand, Thymulin is a thymic hormone that has nothing to do with longevity. So casual practitioners hoping to run the Russian longevity protocol using Epitalon and Thymalin end up buying and using Thymulin and not actually running the longevity protocol.

#7

Epitalon Longevity Reset.pdf (3.9 MB)

Here are my notes if it is more if it more convenient to read them here.

#8

If true it might be good for autoimmune conditions. Have you ever tried it?

#9

My GF has autoimmune conditions and did the protocol using vilon. Too soon, too subtle to say much for sure. She expressed that she felt she had less gut bloating which is one of her occasionally symptoms. I would leave efficacy at plausible evidence, but safety at good evidence.

1 Like
#10

If you find any useful treatments or promising research for autoimmune conditions please post about them in this thread I created: Autoimmune Disease Treatments: Current and Emerging Options

I’m trying to bring together all of the best current and future resources for people in one place.