Cardiovascular & blood

Vesugen

Also called Vezugen, KED peptide, Lys-Glu-Asp, Везуген

Vesugen is a very short lab-made peptide (three amino acids) from Vladimir Khavinson's Russian 'peptide bioregulator' program, promoted for blood-vessel health. Its research is mostly cell and mouse studies by the group that created it. In Russia it is sold as a dietary supplement, not as a medicine.

Preclinical onlyStudied in cells or animals only. Effects in people are unknown.

All printable flashcards

Drawn from its published sequence: 3 residues, one bead each.

Overview

How it works

Proposed, not established. The developers propose that KED adjusts gene activity in cells. Lab studies linked it to changes in the growth of aging blood-vessel lining cells ⁵, higher levels of differentiation markers in aging cultured fibroblasts ⁴, and, in an Alzheimer's mouse model, restoration of 'mushroom'-type dendritic spines on neurons ². None of these effects has been confirmed in controlled human studies.

What research shows

Mouse study (5xFAD Alzheimer's model, n=10/group, 2021): KED restored mushroom-spine numbers to normal levels but did not significantly change total spine density; its effect on synaptic plasticity was a non-significant trend ².
Cell study (neurons made from skin cells of older women, 2024): KED increased dendrite branching (+32%) and total dendrite length (+42%) ³.
Cell study (2012): in aging human prostate fibroblast cultures it raised expression of the differentiation markers CXCL12 and WEGC1 ⁴.
Cell study (2015): effects on proliferation of vascular endothelial cells during aging ⁵.
Developer reviews mention oral use in older patients with atherosclerosis and in workers in hazardous jobs, without published controlled trial data ¹².
Most work comes from Khavinson's group; independent replication is scarce.

Doses studied in people

No verified dose from a published controlled human trial; supplement-label directions are not trial data.

Read this first: these are the amounts given to participants in published studies or written on official prescribing labels, reported for reference. They are not recommendations. Trial doses were chosen for specific patients under medical supervision, and a dose that is safe in one person can be harmful in another.

Vial math

Many research vials hold 5 or 10 mg of powder. This table shows how much ends up in each mark on a U-100 insulin syringe for common amounts of added liquid. It is arithmetic only, not a dose.

Vial	Liquid added	Concentration	Per unit (0.01 mL)
5 mg	1 mL	5 mg/mL	50 mcg	Open in calculator
5 mg	2 mL	2.5 mg/mL	25 mcg	Open in calculator
5 mg	3 mL	1.67 mg/mL	16.7 mcg	Open in calculator
10 mg	1 mL	10 mg/mL	100 mcg	Open in calculator
10 mg	2 mL	5 mg/mL	50 mcg	Open in calculator
10 mg	3 mL	3.33 mg/mL	33.3 mcg	Open in calculator

More sizes: all vial sizes · How this works: Syringes and units · Reconstitution guide.

Safety

No formal human safety studies have been published; long-term safety is unknown.
Unregulated 'research' products sold outside Russia may vary in purity and content.

Report side effects of any drug or product to the FDA through MedWatch. For a possible poisoning in the US, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222.

Legal status

FDA: Not FDA-approved.
Compounding: Not listed in any category of FDA's 503A bulk drug substance nominations (list updated May 14, 2026), so it has no recognized route for US pharmacy compounding ⁷.
Sports (WADA): Not named on the 2026 List. If it has no current government approval as a human medicine anywhere, it would fall under S0 (non-approved substances, prohibited at all times); Russian supplement registration is not a drug approval. Confirm with your anti-doping organization ⁸.
Other: Russia: registered as a dietary supplement (БАД), not a medicine (certificate dated 12.08.2022) ⁶.

Rules change often. See Legal status of peptides for how these categories work.

History

Developed at the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology ¹. A Russian supplement named Везуген (Vesugen), owned by the company Garmonia, holds a 2022 dietary-supplement registration ⁶.

Common questions

Is Vesugen a medicine?

Not in the US, where it is not FDA-approved ⁷. In Russia it is registered as a dietary supplement ⁶.

What does the evidence show?

Cell and mouse studies, including effects on nerve-cell structure in an Alzheimer's mouse model ²³. No controlled human trials have been published.

Is Vesugen banned in sport?

It is not named on WADA's 2026 list, but non-approved substances generally fall under S0, prohibited at all times ⁸.

What are the known risks?

Human safety has not been formally studied, so risks are unknown.

Related compounds

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Cardiogen is a small lab-made peptide, four amino acids long, from Vladimir Khavinson's Russian 'peptide bioregulator' series.

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Pinealon is a very short lab-made peptide (three amino acids) from Vladimir Khavinson's Russian 'peptide bioregulator' program, promoted for brain health.

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Cortagen

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Cortagen is a small lab-made peptide (four amino acids) from Vladimir Khavinson's Russian 'peptide bioregulator' program, aimed at the brain cortex.

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Epitalon

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Epitalon is a tiny four-amino-acid peptide made in the lab, modeled on an extract from the pineal gland.

Sources

Last reviewed 2026-10-26 · How we research · Found an error? See our corrections policy.