Prostamax
A synthetic tetrapeptide (Lys-Glu-Asp-Pro) sold as a prostate bioregulator. The indexed literature contains no study measuring a prostate endpoint of any kind: the handful of papers that exist all examine chromatin structure in cultured lymphocytes from elderly donors, and they come from two laboratories — one in Tbilisi and one in Saint Petersburg. The distance between what the compound is named for and what has actually been measured is the main fact about it.
Lys-Glu-Asp-Pro · 4 residues · 487.51 Da (computed)
Lysine at position 1 (terminal).
Bioregulator context
Target tissue: prostate (genitourinary)
That a four-residue peptide derived from prostate tissue restores the function of the ageing prostate, and more generally that a short peptide carries tissue-specific regulatory information capable of releasing genes silenced by age-related chromatin condensation.
Proposed to decondense age-condensed chromatin — activating ribosomal genes and unpacking facultative and pericentromeric heterochromatin — thereby de-repressing genes silenced with age. All of this is measured in cultured lymphocytes, a cell type with no relationship to the prostate.
Mechanism
Claimed
Restores prostate function in ageing men by acting as a tissue-specific regulator of gene expression.
Actually established
Nothing has been established in humans.
How good is the evidence
Very thin. PubMed indexes six records for the term, and none of them is a human trial, an animal study, or a measurement of any prostate outcome. All the substantive work is cell culture: chromatin decondensation, sister-chromatid exchange and ribosomal-gene activation in lymphocytes from donors aged 75–88, plus one microcalorimetry paper whose abstract reports results for copper and cadmium ions but states no Prostamax result at all. Two of the five studies tested Prostamax as one item in a panel of peptides, so even the in-vitro effects are not cleanly attributable to it.
Effectively two laboratories. Three of the five studies come from the Tbilisi group around Lezhava, and the fourth — the developer-authored 2004 paper in Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine — also lists Lezhava as a co-author alongside Khavinson. So the 'independent' Georgian replication and the developer's own study share an author, which is weaker independence than a first glance suggests. The remaining study is from the Saint Petersburg institute network.
Claims, one at a time
Each claim carries its own evidence tier. A compound is never simply "well studied" — some of its claims may be, others not at all.
| Claim | Verdict | Evidence | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restores prostate function and helps with age-related prostate disorders | untested | Anecdote | This is the compound's name, its marketing, and its stated design rationale. No study in the indexed literature has measured a prostate endpoint of any kind — not histology, not symptom scores, not PSA, not flow rate, in any species. |
| Decondenses age-condensed chromatin and reactivates genes silenced by ageing | mixed | In vitro | Reported consistently across three cell-culture studies in lymphocytes from donors aged 75–88: activation of ribosomal genes, decondensation of pericentromeric heterochromatin, and thermal-denaturation shifts. The effect is repeatedly observed, but only in one cell type, in a dish, by overlapping author groups, and with no demonstrated link to any clinical outcome. |
| Acts tissue-specifically, affecting the tissue it derives from more than others | mixed | In vitro | Rests on an organotypic culture screen in tissues from young and old rats in which several peptides were compared. Tissue specificity in explant culture is not the same as organ-selective action in a living body, and the paper is Russian-language with only an abstract read here. |
The studies themselves
| Study | Design | Subjects | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
Effects of short peptides on lymphocyte chromatin in senile subjects
Khavinson VKh, Lezhava TA, Malinin VV · Bulletin of experimental biology and medicine · 2004
PMID 15085253
|
in_vitro / cell_culture | — Leukocytes from subjects aged 75–88 | In vitro
risk of bias: high
authored by the developer |
[Deheterochromatinization of the chromatin in old age induced by oligopeptide bioregulator (Lys-Glu-Asp-Pro)]
Dzhokhadze TA, Buadze TZh, Gaĭozishvili MN, Baratashvili NA, Lezhava TA · Georgian medical news · 2012
PMID 23221144
ru |
in_vitro / cell_culture | — Cells from individuals aged 75–86, exposed to Prostamax in culture | In vitro
risk of bias: high
|
[The influence of the peptide bioregulator prostamax on heterochromatin of human lymphocytes in situ]
Meskhi T, Khachidze D, Barbakadze Sh, Madzhagaladze G, Gorgoshidze M, Monaselidze D, Lezhava T, Tadumadze N · Biofizika · 2004
PMID 15612551
ru |
in_vitro / cell_culture | — Human lymphocytes in situ | In vitro
risk of bias: unclear
|
Microcalorimetric study of human blood lymphocytes culture at presence of copper, cadmium and prostamax
Kiladze M, Gorgoshidze M, Monaselidze J, Jokhadze T, Lezhava T · Georgian medical news · 2009
PMID 19359734
|
in_vitro / cell_culture | — Blood lymphocyte cultures from ageing people | In vitro
risk of bias: unclear
|
[The tissue-specific effect of synthetic peptides-biologic regulators in organotypic tissues culture in young and old rats]
Zakutskiĭ AN, Chalisova NI, Ryzhak GA, Aniskina AI, Filippov SV, Zeziulin PN · Advances in gerontology = Uspekhi gerontologii · 2006
PMID 17152728
ru |
in_vitro / rat | — Organotypic tissue cultures from young and old rats | In vitro
risk of bias: high
authored by the developer |
- No study in any species has measured a prostate outcome for this compound — not histology, symptom scores, PSA, or urinary flow — despite the prostate being the entire basis of its marketing.
- No human trial, controlled or otherwise, exists; the human material is limited to cells taken from elderly donors and treated in a dish.
- No whole-animal study was found either, so nothing is known about what this peptide does in a living body of any species.
- No human pharmacokinetic data exists — whether an orally taken tetrapeptide survives digestion intact is not established.
- Whether the observed increase in sister-chromatid exchange is a benign consequence of chromatin decondensation or a genotoxic signal has never been investigated.
- No dose or exposure concentration from any cited study is recorded here, because no full text has been read.
- The Russian-language literature has not been read or translated for this entry, only its English abstracts.
What people actually report
- personal reports involving prostatitis and enlarged prostate
- claims about prostate health support
- comparison or pairing with Vesugen
What people keep asking
- Has anyone tried Prostamax for prostatitis or an enlarged prostate?
- What outcomes have people reported after longer-term use?
- Why do people compare or combine Prostamax with Vesugen?