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Slk2.5
Selank Research
Mostly mechanism / observationalLimited safety
8 peer-reviewed studies
What the evidence says
Mostly mechanism / observational
Most Selank studies are mechanism or observational rather than RCTs that measure a clinical effect — keep findings provisional.
Most evidence is from mixed-quality studies published 2012–2021 with a typical study size of 70 participants.
Based on 8 studies · 122 total participants
Confidence
Low
By outcome
Anxiety & stress
Mostly mechanism / observational5 studies
Cognitive function
Mostly mechanism / observational4 studies
Immune support
Too few graded studies2 studies
Safety profile
Too few graded studies1 study
Steady research
1 study in the last 5 years
20122021
1Review2021
Phenibut and selank are poorly studied Russian drugs with GABAergic mechanisms that are inexplicably sold to US consumers as dietary supplements.
Doyno CR, White CM. · Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (2021)
Independent (US) pharmacology review of GABA-receptor-acting sedative-hypnotics, including selank
Characterizes selank as poorly studied and notes it is sold to US consumers as a dietary supplement despite lacking that regulatory basis
Frames selank's mechanism as GABAergic alongside other CNS-depressant agents of abuse concern
Post hoc analysis allowed us to define both general and specific effects of Selank and Semax on FC between the right amygdala and the right temporal cortex for the first time.
Panikratova YR, Lebedeva IS, Sokolov OY, Rumshiskaya AD, Kupriyanov DA, Kost NV. · Doklady biological sciences (2020)
Resting-state fMRI in 52 healthy participants, comparing intranasal selank, semax and placebo before and 5 and 20 min after injection
Focused on the amygdala (anxiety regulation) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (executive function)
Reported between-group and between-condition differences in functional connectivity between the right amygdala and right temporal regions
The positive effect of phenazepam was achieved earlier in the optimization of treatment with selank on HDRS. The combined treatment decreased the level of undesirable side-effects of phenazepam.
Medvedev VE, Tereshchenko ON, Kost NV, Ter-Israelyan AY, Gushanskaya EV, Chobanu IK. · Zhurnal nevrologii i psikhiatrii imeni S.S. Korsakova (2015)
Russian randomized comparison of phenazepam monotherapy (30 patients) vs combined selank + phenazepam (40 patients) in anxiety-phobic, hypochondriac and somatoform disorders
Adding selank brought the benzodiazepine's anxiolytic effect (HDRS) on faster and reduced phenazepam-related side effects (attention/memory impairment, sedation, sexual disturbance)
Outcomes assessed with HDRS, CGI, Spielberger anxiety scales and SF-36 quality of life
We hypothesized and showed that one of Selank anti-anxiety molecular mechanisms can be associated with subtype selective concentration-dependent allosteric modulation of GABA receptors.
Vyunova TV, Andreeva L, Shevchenko K, Myasoedov N. · Protein and Peptide Letters (2018)
Mechanistic review/study using radioligand-receptor binding to probe selank's anxiolytic mechanism
Reports selank acts as a positive allosteric modulator of [3H]GABA binding
Selank could block the modulatory activity of diazepam and olanzapine, suggesting partially overlapping but distinct binding sites
Selank produced a cognitive-stimulating effect in 9 months rats not exposed to ethanol and prevented the formation of ethanol-induced memory and attention disturbances developing during alcohol withdrawal.
Kolik LG, Nadorova AV, Antipova TA, Kruglov SV, Kudrin VS, Durnev AD. · Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine (2019)
Rat study of selank (0.3 mg/kg/day, 7 days, intraperitoneal) on memory and BDNF after long-term ethanol exposure
Object-recognition cognitive benefit and prevention of ethanol-withdrawal memory/attention deficits
Selank prevented ethanol-induced rise in BDNF in hippocampus and frontal cortex, implicating a neurotrophin mechanism
The anxiolytic and nootropic efficiency of selank administered via both routes was observed only in BALB/c mice, which were characterized by initially higher levels of anxiety.
The data obtained reveal a new target for selank in CNS and indicate significance of the activity of enkephalin-opioid system in individual sensitivity to selank.
Kozlovskii II, Andreeva LA, Kozlovskaia MM, Nadorova AV, Kolik LG. · Eksperimental'naia i klinicheskaia farmakologiia (2012)
Mouse open-field study of selank's anxiolytic effect under naloxone (opioid blockade) in high- and low-anxiety inbred strains
Selank (0.25 mg/kg i.p.) showed anxiolytic activity in high-anxiety BALB/C mice but not C57BL/6 mice
Naloxone pretreatment altered sensitivity to selank, implicating the enkephalin-opioid system in its effect
8Animal2014
Selank and its short fragment Gly-Pro influence the expression of genes that mediate different types of immune responses, thereby maintaining the balance of the immune system.
Kolomin T, Morozova M, Volkova A, Shadrina M, Andreeva L, Slominsky P. · Molecular Immunology (2014)
Studied selank and its fragment Gly-Pro on inflammation-related gene expression (C3, Casp1, Il2rg, Xcr1) in mouse spleen after a single 100 μg/kg dose
Found rapid, time-dependent changes in immune-gene expression, with the Gly-Pro fragment largely reproducing selank's profile
Supports the tuftsin-derived immunomodulatory rationale for selank