Skip to content

Sleep & circadian

All peptides
Khavinson bioregulator

Pinealon

Also known as: EDR, Glu-Asp-Arg, Khavinson tripeptide, Pineal peptide

Synthetic tripeptide positioned as a cognitive and neuroprotective bioregulator; community use is intranasal.

Reviewed 2026-05-28

What it does

Pinealon is a synthetic tripeptide (Glu-Asp-Arg) positioned as a pineal-derived cognitive and neuroprotective peptide. It's small enough to plausibly cross the blood-brain barrier and is claimed to directly interact with neuronal DNA. Preclinical work reports neuroprotective and anti-oxidative effects in cell and rodent models. Community use focuses on intranasal dosing for cognitive support.

Used for

Dose

Starting
1,000 mcg · once daily during the 21-day cycle
Common
1,500 mcg · once daily during the 21-day cycle
Upper
2,000 mcg · once daily during the 21-day cycle
When
EveningPineal regulation aligns with melatonin biology — pineal-targeted Khavinson peptides are traditionally dosed in the evening to align with circadian rhythm.
How long
21 days on / ~6 months off
Site
subcutaneous
Food
any

Need exact volumes? Open the peptide calculator →

⚠ Caution

  • Pregnancy and breastfeeding (no human safety data)
  • Active malignancy (theoretical concern across Khavinson-class bioregulators with gene-expression-modulating claims)
  • Known hypersensitivity to peptide formulations or excipients

Will it work for me?

Establish a baseline (2–3 readings over 1–2 weeks before starting), then track at consistent intervals.

Functional & psychometric
  • Tier 3 — Animal / in vitroCambridge Brain Sciences composite (cognitive battery)↑· 3 weeks (end of cycle) and 8–12 weeks post-cycleSelf-administered cognitive composite is the practical at-home tracker. Pair baseline at day 0 with end-of-cycle (day 21) and a follow-up at 8–12 weeks.
  • Tier 3 — Animal / in vitroNIH Toolbox Cognition battery↑· 3 weeks (end of cycle) and 8–12 weeks post-cycleAlternate validated cognitive battery; either tool is reasonable as a personal-tracking endpoint.
  • Tier 3 — Animal / in vitroPSQI (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index)↓· 2–3 weeksSelf-administered sleep-quality questionnaire; lower scores indicate better sleep. Track if sleep is a primary target of the cycle.

Your stack

Track this peptide in your protocol — dose, schedule, vials on hand, refill projection. Stays in your browser; no account needed.

Add to my stack

Use this peptide

Cycling

21 days on, ~6 months off.

Khavinson protocol: 21 consecutive days, twice yearly. Week 1 at 1 mg/day SQ, weeks 2–3 at 2 mg/day SQ; intranasal escalation mirrors this pattern.

Reconstitution & storage
VialBAC waterConcentrationShelf life
20 mg2 mL1 mg per 10 units1 month

Standard 20 mg vial reconstituted with 2 mL bacteriostatic water = 10 mg/mL, giving 1 mg per 10 units on a U-100 syringe. For nasal use, dilute further with sterile saline per the nasal preparation note. Use sterile technique.

Storage. Lyophilized: refrigerate. Reconstituted: refrigerate 2–8 °C, protect from light, use within 30 days.

Open the peptide calculator →

Nasal delivery

Suitable for nasal use. Standard 20 mg vial diluted to 2 mg/mL → 200 mcg per spray. Typical: 1 spray per nostril daily during the 21-day cycle (= 400 mcg/day total); higher doses (2 sprays/nostril) in weeks 2–3 per the standard Pinealon escalation. Used nasally for cognitive applications in the Khavinson protocols.

Nasal spray guide · Dilution calculator

Monitoring & questions

Reported side effects
  • Generally well tolerated in available Khavinson-group reports
  • Injection-site reactions (SQ)
  • Local nasal irritation (intranasal)
  • Long-term human safety data outside Russian Khavinson-protocol use is essentially absent

Reference

How it works

Proposed mechanism centers on direct binding to DNA and short-peptide-mediated regulation of gene expression in pineal cells and neurons, with downstream reduction of oxidative stress and support of neuronal survival. Khavinson-group in-vitro and rodent work shows suppression of ROS accumulation, support of cell viability under oxidative challenge, and protection of offspring neurodevelopment in maternal hyperhomocysteinemia models. Pharmacokinetics of the intact tripeptide are not characterized to modern standards — biological effects may be mediated by downstream signaling rather than continued peptide presence.

Juno's take

Pinealon comes from the same Russian short-peptide research tradition as epithalon, and shares the same evidence-quality concern — the cognitive endpoints in humans have not been independently replicated to modern Western standards. Most published work comes from one originating group. The intranasal route is a reasonable delivery option (use our nasal-spray prep guide), but the cognitive claims need to be taken with the same caution as any other single-source compound.

EvidenceTier 3 — Animal / in vitro

Tiers are per indication. The same molecule can be Tier 1 for one use and Tier 4 for another — the tier reflects published literature, not community framing.

Cognitive enhancement — memory, attention, learning

Tier 3medium confidence

Khavinson-group in-vitro and rodent work supports a neuroprotective and pro-cognitive phenotype via reduced oxidative stress and enhanced cell viability. Modern Western RCT replication of cognitive endpoints in humans is essentially absent. Per Rule 5 (old/unreplicated single-lab studies are weaker than they look) and Rule 10 (when in doubt, downgrade), Tier 3 is the honest ceiling.

Khavinson V et al. 2011

Neuroprotection in oxidative-stress contexts

Tier 3high confidence

Khavinson 2011 demonstrates dose-dependent suppression of ROS accumulation and protection of cell viability in cortical neuron cultures. Arutjunyan 2012 reports protection of rat offspring from prenatal hyperhomocysteinemia. Animal/in-vitro only — human controlled data not established.

Khavinson V et al. 2011Arutjunyan A et al. 2012

Sleep quality and circadian / pineal regulation

Tier 3medium confidence

Conceptually positioned within the Khavinson pineal-bioregulator family. Russian observational and protocol reports describe sleep-quality and circadian effects; modern controlled human evidence is not established.

Khavinson VK et al. 2016

Age-related cognitive decline (investigational)

Tier 3medium confidence

Mechanistic extrapolation from rodent neuroprotection data and Khavinson-protocol use in aging cohorts. No published Western RCT for cognitive decline endpoints. Tier 3 for the animal/mechanistic basis only.

Khavinson VK et al. 2016
Citations (3)
  1. [1]
    Pinealon increases cell viability by suppression of free radical levels and activating proliferative processes
    Khavinson V, Ribakova Y, Kulebiakin K, Vladychenskaya E, Kozina L, Arutjunyan A, Boldyrev A · Rejuvenation Research · 2011 · PMID 21978084
    Direct Pinealon mechanism paper — dose-dependent ROS suppression and cell-viability protection. Anchor for the neuroprotection and cognitive Tier 3 indications.
    View source
  2. [2]
    Pinealon protects the rat offspring from prenatal hyperhomocysteinemia
    Arutjunyan A, Kozina L, Stvolinskiy S, Bulygina Y, Mashkina A, Khavinson V · International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine · 2012 · PMID 22567179
    Rodent neuroprotection model — improved spatial learning and reduced ROS in cerebellar neurons of exposed offspring. Supports the oxidative-stress/neuroprotection indication.
    View source
  3. [3]
    Short Peptides Regulate Gene Expression
    Khavinson VK, Lin'kova NS, Tarnovskaya SI · Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine · 2016 · PMID 27909961
    Khavinson short-peptide mechanistic overview — proposed direct DNA binding and gene-expression regulation across the bioregulator family. Supports the mechanism paragraph and the cognitive/sleep framing.
    View source