Vesugen
A synthetic tripeptide (Lys-Glu-Asp) marketed as a vascular bioregulator and presented as the defined-sequence counterpart of a blood-vessel tissue extract. Almost all of its published evidence is cell-culture work from the institute that developed it. A single small Russian-language study in 32 older adults is the only human data found, and alongside its claimed benefit that study also reported a prooxidant signal and a fall in circulating haematopoietic progenitor cells.
Lys-Glu-Asp · 3 residues · 390.39 Da (computed)
Lysine at position 1 (terminal).
Bioregulator context
Target tissue: vascular endothelium and blood-vessel wall (cardiovascular)
That a three-residue peptide corresponding to a regulatory motif of vascular tissue can normalise the function of ageing endothelium, and more generally that peptides this short carry tissue-specific information capable of regulating gene expression in the tissue they derive from.
Proposed to act epigenetically on endothelial cells — normalising endothelin-1 expression, restoring connexin-mediated cell-cell contact, and raising sirtuin-1 expression. Every step of that model comes from expression measurements in cultured cells, not from a measured vascular outcome in an animal or a person.
Mechanism
Claimed
Restores the function of ageing vascular endothelium and protects against atherosclerosis and restenosis through epigenetic regulation of endothelial genes.
Actually established
Nothing has been established in humans.
How good is the evidence
Thin and almost entirely in vitro. Reported effects are expression changes in cultured endothelial cells, organotypic cultures of pineal and immune tissue, and fibroblast-derived induced neurons. The only human data found is a Russian-language study of 32 older adults that gave Vesugen alongside a second peptide, had no placebo arm, and reported a prooxidant signal and reduced circulating CD34+ cells next to its claimed anti-ageing effect. PubMed indexes roughly 27 records for the term, most of them multi-peptide screens in which KED is one of several compounds tested.
Khavinson is a listed author on three of the five studies cited here, and the two where he is not — the 2024 induced-neuron paper and the 2015 human study — are still tied to the same network: the 2024 paper lists two authors affiliated with the Saint Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, the body that developed and sells these peptides. Most of the literature appears in two journals, Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine and Advances in Gerontology (Uspekhi gerontologii), both closely associated with that institute.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protects and restores ageing vascular endothelium, and helps in atherosclerosis and restenosis | mixed | In vitro | Rests on expression measurements — endothelin-1, connexins, sirtuin-1 — in cultured normal, atherosclerotic and restenotic endothelium, reported by a developer-affiliated group. No plaque, blood-flow, or clinical cardiovascular endpoint has been measured in any animal or human study found. |
| Slows biological ageing in older people | mixed | Human trial | One uncontrolled Russian-language study in 32 adults aged 41–83 with chronic polymorbidity reported improvement on biological-age indices, but administered Vesugen alongside Pinealon, used no placebo group, and simultaneously reported prooxidant activity on chemiluminescence and a drop in circulating CD34+ progenitor cells. Read as a single small open study with mixed results, not as evidence of geroprotection. |
| Protects neurons and supports neurogenesis | mixed | In vitro | Reported in fibroblast-derived induced neurons and in organotypic cultures of neuroimmunoendocrine tissue, in both cases as marker-expression changes in a dish. No animal or human neurological outcome has been measured. |
| Regulates gene expression in a tissue-specific way through direct epigenetic action | unsupported | Mechanistic | This is the framing used throughout the developer's own reviews. No study found here tests the epigenetic mechanism itself — the reviews argue for it from expression changes observed downstream, which is consistent with the model but does not establish it. |
The studies themselves
| Study | Design | Subjects | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
[EFFECT OF SYNTHETIC PEPTIDES ON AGING OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC POLYMORBIDITY AND ORGANIC BRAIN SYNDROME OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM IN REMISSION]
Meshchaninov VN, Tkachenko EL, Zharkov SV, Gavrilov IV, Katyreva IuE · Advances in gerontology = Uspekhi gerontologii · 2015
PMID 26390612
ru |
open_label_trial / human | 32 — 18 men and 12 women aged 41–83 with chronic polymorbidity and organic brain syndrome in remission (the abstract's own subject counts sum to 30, not the stated 32) | Human trial
risk of bias: high
|
[Molecular aspects of vasoprotective peptide KED activity during atherosclerosis and restenosis]
Kozlov KL, Bolotov II, Linkova NS, Drobintseva AO, Khavinson VK, Dyakonov MM, Kozina LS · Advances in gerontology = Uspekhi gerontologii · 2016
PMID 28539025
ru |
in_vitro / cell_culture | — Normal, atherosclerotic and restenotic vascular endothelium in vitro | In vitro
risk of bias: high
authored by the developer |
Effect of tripeptide Lys-Glu-Asp on physiological activity of neuroimmunoendocrine system cells
Chalisova NI, Lopatina NG, Kamishev NG, Linkova NS, Koncevaya EA, Dudkov AV, Kozina LS, Khavinson VKh, Titkov YS · Bulletin of experimental biology and medicine · 2012
PMID 22977872
|
in_vitro / mixed | — Organotypic cultures of pineal, immune and nervous tissue from young and old animals, plus a honey-bee associative-learning model | In vitro
risk of bias: high
authored by the developer |
Short Peptides Protect Fibroblast-Derived Induced Neurons from Age-Related Changes
Kraskovskaya N, Linkova N, Sakhenberg E, Krieger D, Polyakova V, Medvedev D, Krasichkov A, Khotin M, Ryzhak G · International journal of molecular sciences · 2024
PMID 39518916
|
in_vitro / cell_culture | — Induced neurons derived from human fibroblasts | In vitro
risk of bias: unclear
authored by the developer |
Peptide KED: Molecular-Genetic Aspects of Neurogenesis Regulation in Alzheimer's Disease
Khavinson VK, Lin'kova NS, Umnov RS · Bulletin of experimental biology and medicine · 2021
PMID 34173097
|
narrative_review / mixed | Mechanistic
risk of bias: high
authored by the developer |
- No human pharmacokinetic data exists — absorption, half-life, distribution and clearance are uncharacterised for every route in common use, including the oral capsules sold under this name.
- No randomised or placebo-controlled human study of Vesugen was found in the indexed literature.
- The only human study found administered Vesugen together with a second peptide, so no effect can be attributed to Vesugen alone.
- The reported decrease in circulating CD34+ cells has never been followed up, so whether it is an artefact, a transient shift, or a real suppression of haemopoiesis is unknown.
- No vascular outcome — plaque, flow, blood pressure, event rate — has been measured in any animal or human, despite the compound being marketed for the vascular system.
- No dose from any cited study is recorded here, because no full text has been read.
- The Russian-language literature on this compound has not been read or translated for this entry, only its English abstracts.
What people actually report
- interest in blood-flow problems
- claims about vascular and neuroprotective effects
- comparison with Epitalon and Ventfort
- vendor availability and new product announcements
- requests for personal experiences
What people keep asking
- Has anyone tried Vesugen for blood-flow issues?
- How does Vesugen compare with Ventfort or Epitalon?
- What experiences have people had with Vesugen?
- Where are people finding Vesugen products?