Reference · Neuropeptides

Semax

Semax is a synthetic heptapeptide (Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro) in which the 4-7 fragment of adrenocorticotropic hormone is extended at the C-terminus by the tripeptide Pro-Gly-Pro, a modification introduced to resist enzymatic degradation. It originated in Russian melanocortin research and is registered as a pharmaceutical in the Russian Federation; the research material is not that pharmaceutical product. Published characterisation is largely rodent-based: investigators measured specific binding and brain-derived neurotrophic factor protein in rat basal forebrain (Dolotov et al., Journal of Neurochemistry 2006), profiled genome-wide transcription in a rat middle cerebral artery occlusion model (Medvedeva et al., BMC Genomics 2014), and examined brain proteome changes after cerebral ischaemia-reperfusion (Sudarkina et al., International Journal of Molecular Sciences 2021). Human data are limited to small, non-randomised Russian-language clinical reports in hemispheric ischaemic stroke (Gusev et al., Zhurnal Nevrologii i Psikhiatrii imeni S.S. Korsakova 1997).

Research use only. Not for human or veterinary use. This page describes what the compound is and what published literature has examined; it is not guidance on use.