This area covers peptides studied in cognitive, mood, and cellular-energy research — nootropic compounds such as Semax and Selank, plus mitochondrial-signaling peptides like MOTS-C and SS-31 — mostly in animal and cell models. They are not FDA-approved and are sold for research use only.
Semax and Selank are short synthetic peptides developed in Russia. Both are actually registered as pharmaceutical drugs there — Semax has been used clinically (for example in stroke recovery and cognitive settings) and Selank is used for anxiety-type conditions. So there is a genuine clinical-use history, but almost all of it sits within the Russian medical and research system.
The catch for an English-speaking reader is that this literature has not been widely replicated by independent Western trials, and much of the mechanistic support (effects on BDNF, on GABA/serotonin-related signaling) comes from animal studies. That doesn't make the work wrong, but a small, single-region evidence base with limited outside replication is weaker than a body of evidence confirmed across many independent groups.
Neither Semax nor Selank is FDA-approved, and they are sold to the US/UK market as research chemicals rather than tested medicines. The honest framing: these are compounds with real Russian clinical pedigree and interesting laboratory findings, but thin independent human evidence and no approval by Western regulators.
Sources: The peptide drug Semax — Alzheimer's-model research (NCBI PMC) · Semax — development and regulatory status (Wikipedia, secondary summary) · How we source this ›
Each links to a full profile — identity, what it is, regulatory status, storage, and cited sources. Everything is framed for research use only; none of this is a recommendation to take anything.
Dihexa (PNB-0408) is an orally active, blood-brain-barrier-penetrant small-molecule analog of angiotensin IV, studied as a nootropic / synaptogenic agent in animal cognition models.
MOTS-c is a mitochondrial-derived peptide encoded within the mitochondrial 12S rRNA region and studied as a regulator of cellular metabolism.
Selank is a synthetic heptapeptide derived from the immunopeptide tuftsin.
Semax is a synthetic heptapeptide based on a fragment of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH 4-10) with a Pro-Gly-Pro tail.
SS-31 (elamipretide) is a synthetic cell-permeable tetrapeptide that binds cardiolipin on the inner mitochondrial membrane.
Blend — 10 mg MOTS-C + 10 mg SS-31
Blend — 10 mg Selank + 10 mg Semax
Our rankings are never for sale, and we make no health or dosing claims. Research compounds are for laboratory use only.