Everything below concerns melanocortin signalling. We keep the language plain, cite what the science says, and separate well-supported claims from open questions.
Updated 2026-05-25. Numbers and descriptions here follow the published literature rather than marketing material.
Russian regulatory authorities approved the peptide for nasal administration, and it remains listed in the national pharmacopoeia under several trade names. Documented indications include acute ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attacks, traumatic brain injury, and certain ophthalmological and neurological conditions. Physicians also prescribe it for cognitive complaints in older patients, although the evidence base for that use is thinner. Outside Russia and a few neighboring states, the substance is not an approved medicine and is sold instead as a research chemical.
Later generations of the molecule include an N-acetylated form and an amidated form, both marketed online alongside the parent peptide. These variants differ in terminal chemistry and stability, and they are frequently discussed in the same breath even though they have not been compared in controlled trials. Supply outside formal healthcare systems comes largely from laboratories that synthesize peptides to order. Purity and identity of these materials vary widely, and no single body oversees the international trade.
Semax is a synthetic heptapeptide developed in the Soviet Union during the 1980s by researchers at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow. It was designed as a truncated analog of adrenocorticotropic hormone, retaining only the fragment spanning residues four through ten. Investigators sought a peptide that would preserve the cognitive effects associated with ACTH while eliminating the hormonal stimulation of the adrenal cortex. The compound entered clinical use in Russia during the following decade.
Semax 是人工设计的七肽，序列为 Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro，骨架取自促肾上腺皮质激素片段 ACTH(4-10)。它于二十世纪八十年代在苏联的分子遗传学研究机构内合成。设计目标是保留该片段与注意力和记忆相关的活性，同时剔除促皮质激素释放等内分泌作用。此后俄罗斯将其登记为药品并进入临床使用。
当时的短肽研究普遍关注能否穿越血脑屏障、在低剂量下产生中枢效应，Semax 属于这一路线。鼻内给药是其主要使用方式，俄语文献报道的适应症涵盖缺血性卒中、短暂性脑缺血发作、认知功能减退以及视神经病变。这些研究大多发表在当地期刊上，样本规模与终点设置同西方试验惯例存在差异，国际同行对其临床证据的强度看法不一。
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Molecular class | Synthetic heptapeptide | Analog of an ACTH fragment |
| Amino acid length | Seven residues | Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro |
| Origin | Moscow, 1980s | Institute of Molecular Genetics |
| Approved regions | Russia and some neighboring states | Not cleared in Western markets |
| Common trade names | Multiple national brands | Sold as a nasal formulation |
Semax 是一种人工合成的七肽，氨基酸序列为 Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro，单字母缩写记作 MEHFPGP。它被归类为促肾上腺皮质激素片段 ACTH(4-10) 的结构类似物，但并不天然存在于生物体内。母体片段 ACTH(4-10) 的序列为 Met-Glu-His-Phe-Arg-Trp-Gly，Semax 替换了中间两个残基，并在羧基端延长了 Pro-Gly-Pro 三肽。这种延长被普遍认为能提升分子对肽酶的耐受性。
该化合物于二十世纪八十年代在俄罗斯被开发，相关工作由俄罗斯科学院分子遗传学研究所的研究团队主导。开发目标并非复制 ACTH 的完整激素活性，而是寻找保留其神经作用方向、同时去除促肾上腺皮质激素释放效应的短肽片段。研究记录显示，这一方向促成了多个相关短肽的合成与筛选，而 Semax 是其中被研究最广泛的一个。当地文献常以 Семакс 这一名称指代它。
研究兴趣主要集中在神经营养因子相关的路径上，包括脑源性神经营养因子与神经生长因子的表达变化。部分实验报告称在特定条件下观察到这些因子的水平上升，但具体信号通路和剂量依赖关系仍未完全厘清。多数公开数据来自细胞模型和动物实验，人体对照研究数量有限。因此，该化合物的作用机制在文献中属于活跃讨论，而非已经确立的定论。
The compound was developed in the 1980s at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow, where it emerged from research on short ACTH fragments and their effects on the central nervous system. Russian pharmaceutical listings describe it as a nootropic and neuroprotective agent, most often formulated as nasal drops. It is not a marketed medicine in the United States or the European Union, and no pharmacopoeial monograph covers it. Consequently, most published clinical experience with the substance originates from a small number of research centres, mainly in Russia and neighbouring countries.
Pharmacological accounts link semax to melanocortin signalling and to modulation of neurotrophic factor expression, particularly brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor. Much of this evidence comes from rodent studies using intranasal delivery, a route chosen because it allows peptides to reach the central nervous system with limited systemic exposure. Whether the same mechanisms operate in humans at comparable magnitude remains an open question. The precise receptor or receptors responsible for the reported behavioural and neuroprotective effects have not been conclusively identified.
=== Food, supplement, and topical use === In 2024, some 55% of the collagen market in the United States was for use in foods, including such products as sausage casings, thickening agents, preservation methods, and ice cream. Although collagen dietary supplements may be marketed to improve skin elasticity and reduce wrinkles, there is no good evidence that ingestion of collagen has an effect on collagen production or skin health. When consumed by mouth, collagen is digested into its hydrolyzed peptides and amino acids, and therefore the intact collagen product is not incorporated into damaged or wrinkled skin, but possibly its constituents are. Topical skincare products containing intact collagen are advertised to replace or enhance natural skin collagen, but such topical collagen has poor permeability, does not penetrate the skin, and is not absorbed. As of 2025, there is no clinical evidence to support the use of oral collagen supplements or topical products to improve wrinkles or skin aging.
Inside the cell Two types of alpha chains – alpha-1 and alpha 2, are formed during translation on ribosomes along the rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER). These peptide chains, known as preprocollagen, have registration peptides on each end and a signal peptide. Polypeptide chains are released into the lumen of the RER. Signal peptides are cleaved inside the RER; these are known as pro-alpha chains. Hydroxylation of lysine and proline amino acids occurs inside the lumen. This process is dependent on and consumes ascorbic acid (vitamin C) as a cofactor. Glycosylation of specific hydroxylysine residues occurs. Triple alpha helical structure is formed inside the endoplasmic reticulum from two alpha-1 chains and one alpha-2 chain. Procollagen is shipped to the Golgi apparatus, where it is packaged and secreted into the extracellular space by exocytosis. Outside the cell Registration peptides are cleaved, and tropocollagen is formed by procollagen peptidase. Multiple tropocollagen molecules form collagen fibrils, via covalent cross-linking (aldol reaction) by lysyl oxidase which links hydroxylysine and lysine residues. Multiple collagen fibrils form into collagen fibers. Collagen may be attached to cell membranes via several types of protein, including fibronectin, laminin, fibulin, and integrin.
In 1997, an antibody conjugate with bismuth-213 (half-life 45.6 minutes, emits alpha particles) was used to treat leukemia patients, and it has been used in other cancer treatment, for example, in the targeted alpha therapy experimental program.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
== Medical uses == Artesunate is the first-line treatment for children or adults with severe malaria, usually in combination with another antimalarial drug. There is moderate-quality evidence that treatment with artesunate plus mefloquine is superior to treatment with artesunate plus amodiaquine or artesunate plus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. Artemisinin-based combination therapy may be used by mouth in persons that can tolerate it after 24 hours by injection. Artesunate is preferred over parenteral quinine for severe malaria treatment. Artesunate was shown to prevent more deaths from severe malaria than quinine in two large multicentre randomized controlled trials from Africa and Asia. A subsequent systematic review of seven randomized controlled trials found this improvement in survival rates to be consistent across all trials. Artesunate's efficacy is comparable to that of artemether, another artemisinin derivative, in treating adults for severe malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum, though artesunate clears more parasites initially. Artesunate combination drugs have a number of advantages over artemether-based drugs in terms of its uptake and administration routes and may be more effective in treatment of severe and complicated malaria in children. Artesunate is also used to treat less-severe forms of malaria when it can be given orally. It has activity against P. ovale, P. malariae, and severe P. knowlesi. Artesunate + sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine for treatment of P. vivax is not recommended due to high rates of resistance.
=== Early marketing strategies === An important part of nylon's popularity stems from DuPont's marketing strategy. DuPont promoted the fiber to increase demand before the product was available to the general market. Nylon's commercial announcement occurred on October 27, 1938, at the final session of the Herald Tribune's yearly "Forum on Current Problems", on the site of the approaching New York City world's fair. The "first man-made organic textile fibre" which was derived from "coal, water and air" and promised to be "as strong as steel, as fine as the spider's web" was received enthusiastically by the audience, many of them middle-class women, and made the headlines of most newspapers. Nylon was introduced as part of "The world of tomorrow" at the 1939 New York World's Fair and was featured at DuPont's "Wonder World of Chemistry" at the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco in 1939. Actual nylon stockings were not shipped to selected stores in the national market until May 15, 1940. However, a limited number were released for sale in Delaware before that. The first public sale of nylon stockings occurred on October 24, 1939, in Wilmington, Delaware. 4,000 pairs of stockings were available, all of which were sold within three hours. Another added bonus to the campaign was that it meant reducing silk imports from Japan, an argument that won over many wary customers. Nylon was even mentioned by President Roosevelt's cabinet, which addressed its "vast and interesting economic possibilities" five days after the material was formally announced.
Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) is a complex of three enzymes that converts pyruvate into acetyl-CoA by a process called pyruvate decarboxylation. Acetyl-CoA may then be used in the citric acid cycle to carry out cellular respiration, and this complex links the glycolysis metabolic pathway to the citric acid cycle. Pyruvate decarboxylation is also known as the "pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction" because it also involves the oxidation of pyruvate. The levels of pyruvate dehydrogenase enzymes play a major role in regulating the rate of carbohydrate metabolism and are strongly stimulated by the evolutionarily ancient hormone insulin. The PDC is opposed by the activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase, and this mechanism plays a pivotal role in regulating rates of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in many physiological states across taxa, including feeding, starvation, diabetes mellitus, hyperthyroidism, and hibernation. The multienzyme complex is structurally and functionally related to the oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex (OGDC), the 2-oxoadipate dehydrogenase complex (OADHC) and the branched-chain oxo-acid dehydrogenase complex (BCKDC), all of which are members of the 2-oxoacid dehydrogenase complex family. A role for insulin in the regulation of glucose homeostasis, pyruvate dehydrogenase levels, and the generation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in the electron transport chain has been evolutionarily conserved across species.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
It originated at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow during the 1980s. The work was carried out by a Russian research group that specialized in peptide neuropharmacology.
It is registered as a medicine in Russia and has been used clinically there for decades. No regulatory agency in Western Europe or North America has approved it for any indication.
Semax corresponds to the four-to-ten fragment of adrenocorticotropic hormone. Because it omits the first three residues, it lacks the adrenal-stimulating action of the full hormone.
不存在。它是依据 ACTH 的一段序列人工设计的分子，天然蛋白质中找不到与之完全相同的七肽。名称属于研究代号，而非天然物质名。