How do you reconstitute Epitalon?

Epitalon (AEDG) is a small (~390 Da), highly water-soluble peptide with no disulphide bridges, so it dissolves readily. As a laboratory-handling procedure, bacteriostatic water (sterile water with about 0.9% benzyl alcohol) is introduced slowly down the inside wall of the vial rather than onto the powder cake, then the vial is swirled gently to dissolve — never shaken, since shaking can shear and denature the peptide. A 10 mg vial reconstituted with 2 mL gives 5 mg/mL. This is laboratory handling information, not a use instruction: Epitalon is for research use only, not for human consumption.

Is there a recommended Epitalon dose?

No. There is no validated human dose of Epitalon for any use. It is not an approved medicine in any major jurisdiction and has never been through a dose-finding programme that would establish one. The dose figures circulating online are extrapolations from a narrow research lineage — mostly the St Petersburg gerontology group — presented as though they were protocols, which they are not. A 2025 review notes the mechanism itself remains uncertain (PMID 40141333). Any figure should be read as what a specific study administered, not as a recommendation. This is research education, not medical advice.

What dose of Epitalon was used in studies?

The published Russian literature describes Epitalon administered in a 2002 controlled clinical trial in retinitis-pigmentosa patients, which reported a positive clinical effect in roughly 90% of cases (PMID 12195242), and in geroprotector courses described in Khavinson’s 2002 ‘Peptides and Ageing’ review, which reported restored circadian melatonin and cortisol rhythms in old rhesus monkeys (PMID 12374906). These are descriptions of what those papers administered in a narrow research lineage — not a validated human dose and not a protocol to follow. Epitalon remains research use only, not for human consumption.

How many mg is in an Epitalon vial?

Research-grade Epitalon is commonly supplied as a lyophilised powder in 10 mg and higher-capacity 50 mg vials, with the mass stated as peptide free-base and the salt form noted (acetate is standard). The figure on the label is only as trustworthy as the mass actually in the vial, so a credible certificate of analysis should report a third-party RP-HPLC purity assay (≥98% peak area) and mass-spectrometry confirmation of the parent ion at roughly 391 Da [M+H]+, consistent with the AEDG identity (PMID 29124531). Verifying mass per vial against the COA is part of responsible laboratory handling.

Research · Epitalon cluster

Epitalon dosing research protocols — figures, reconstitution, handling

Creator: Wellness Labs Editorial
Published: 2026-06-12
Keywords: Epitalon dosing, Epitalon dosing, Epitalon dose, how to reconstitute epitalon, epitalon reconstitution, epitalon protocol, epitalon 10mg, epitalon storage

Wellness Labs Editorial·12 June 2026·8 min read

Medically reviewed by

Wellness Labs Research Team · Research and Editorial

Last reviewed 1 June 2026

“What is the Epitalon dose?” is one of the most-searched questions about the pineal tetrapeptide — and the honest answer starts by refusing the premise. There is no validated human dose of Epitalon for any purpose, because Epitalon is not an approved medicine in any major jurisdiction and has never been through the kind of dose-finding programme that would establish one. What does exist is a published research record — mostly from the St Petersburg gerontology school — describing the amounts those studies administered. This spoke reports those figures descriptively, shows the reconstitution math, and is explicit throughout that this is a research reference, not a protocol to follow.

TL;DR

There is no validated human dose of Epitalon for any use — the circulating dose figures are extrapolations from a narrow research lineage, not established protocols. The published Russian literature describes Epitalon (AEDG) administered in a controlled retinal trial in retinitis-pigmentosa patients [1] and in geroprotector courses, with a review reporting restored circadian melatonin and cortisol rhythms in old rhesus monkeys and claims from human geroprotector trials [2]. Epitalon is a small (~390 Da), highly water-soluble peptide with no disulphide bridges, so reconstitution is straightforward: bacteriostatic water down the vial wall, swirl — do not shake. A 10 mg vial in 2 mL gives 5 mg/mL, so 10 units on a U-100 syringe (0.1 mL) draws 0.5 mg — laboratory handling math, not a use instruction. The multi-week “cycle” conventions that circulate are convention, not dose-response evidence. Research use only — not for human consumption. See the Epitalon parent synopsis.

Why there is no validated human dose

The first thing to settle, before any number appears, is what kind of object an “Epitalon dose” is. It is not an approved dosing instruction, because Epitalon is not an approved medicine anywhere in the major regulatory world — there is no regulator-reviewed label, no marketed strength, and no dose-ranging programme that ran to registration. The figures that circulate on forums and vendor pages are extrapolations: they reproduce the amounts that appeared in a handful of older research reports and present them as though they were established protocols. They are not.

That distinction is the whole point of this article, so it is worth stating plainly: nothing below is a recommendation, and there is no validated human dose of Epitalon for any unapproved use. The 2025 review by Araj and colleagues — the most comprehensive recent synthesis of the literature — describes Epitalon’s 25 years of in-vitro, in-vivo and in-silico study while explicitly noting that its precise mechanism remains uncertain [3]. A field that has not settled the mechanism has certainly not settled a human dose. Read every figure that follows as “what these papers administered”, never as “what to take”.

There is no validated human dose of Epitalon. The numbers that circulate are research-reference figures — what specific studies administered to observe an effect — not a protocol for any person to follow.

What the published literature actually administered

The Epitalon dosing record is best read as a small set of research reports rather than a clinical guideline. Three threads in the published literature give the figures that everything online ultimately traces back to — and each is described here as what that paper reports, not as a regimen anyone should reproduce.

The controlled retinal trial. A 2002 controlled clinical study by Khavinson, Razumovsky and colleagues reported that the pineal tetrapeptide Epitalon improved the condition of the eye retina in patients with retinitis pigmentosa, alongside a rat model, with a positive clinical effect reported in roughly 90% of cases [1]. This is the most concrete human-administration record in the public literature — and it is a single trial from one research lineage, describing what that trial gave to its participants, not a treatment on offer here.
Geroprotector courses and the “Peptides and Ageing” review. Khavinson’s 2002 review “Peptides and Ageing” describes Epitalon administered in geroprotector courses, reporting restored circadian rhythms of melatonin and cortisol in old rhesus monkeys and citing human geroprotector trial claims plus retinal improvement [2]. The monkey circadian data is animal work; the human claims are described in that review — in both cases this is what the paper reports, not an efficacy promise.
The modern synthesis. The 2025 Araj review consolidates this body of in-vitro and in-vivo work, characterising Epitalon as a highly bioactive pineal tetrapeptide while stressing that the mechanism is not fully resolved [3]. It frames the older administration figures as historical research, not contemporary dosing guidance.

The through-line is the same one that runs through the whole Epitalon literature: the administration figures that exist come from a narrow research lineage, mostly the St Petersburg group, and were gathered to study the molecule rather than to establish a regimen for general use. They describe experiments. They do not describe a validated human dose, and presenting them as one would misrepresent what the papers actually say.

Reconstitution & the syringe math

Epitalon is, chemically, one of the easier research peptides to handle. It is a small tetrapeptide — Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly (AEDG), molecular weight approximately 390 Da, supplied as the acetate salt — that is highly water-soluble and carries no disulphide bridges, so it dissolves readily and is not prone to the oxidative-folding problems that complicate larger, cysteine-containing peptides. Its identity in the pineal polypeptide complex has been confirmed by mass spectrometry and HPLC [4], which is also what makes the mass-per-vial and parent-ion checks on a certificate of analysis meaningful.

Reconstitution mechanics, as a laboratory-handling procedure, are simple: introduce bacteriostatic water — sterile water with ~0.9% benzyl alcohol as a preservative — slowly down the inside wall of the vial rather than aiming the stream at the powder cake, then swirl gently to dissolve. Never shake: shaking shears and can denature the peptide. The general diluent and documentation framework lives in our how to reconstitute research peptidesguide. The math below shows how a chosen mass in milligrams maps onto syringe units — it is laboratory handling arithmetic, not a use instruction.

Reconstitution math (research reference)

A vial labelled Epitalon 10 mg reconstituted with 2 mL of bacteriostatic water yields a concentration of 5 mg/mL; with 1 mL it yields 10 mg/mL; with 5 mL it yields 2 mg/mL.
On a U-100 insulin syringe (100 units = 1 mL), 0.1 mL = 10 units. At 5 mg/mL (the 10 mg vial in 2 mL), 10 units = 0.1 mL = 0.5 mg; 4 units (0.04 mL) draws 0.2 mg; 20 units (0.2 mL) draws 1 mg.
Diluent: standard bacteriostatic water. Introduce it slowly down the vial wall, not onto the powder cake, then swirl — do not shake.
Because AEDG is small (~390 Da), water-soluble, and has no disulphide bridges, it dissolves readily — verify the mass per vial and the parent ion against the COA rather than assuming label accuracy [4].
The free reconstitution calculator handles any vial-size / diluent-volume / draw-volume combination.
These figures are research-protocol reference values for laboratory handling. They are not a human dosing recommendation — there is no validated human dose for any unapproved use, and Epitalon is not an approved medicine in any major jurisdiction. For research use only — not for human consumption.

Storage & handling

Storage discipline matters more for Epitalon than its simple chemistry might suggest. As a lyophilised powder it is most stable at -20°C, protected from light; once reconstituted, the solution is generally kept refrigerated at 2-8°Cand used within the window stated on the vendor’s documentation. Bacteriostatic water’s benzyl alcohol preservative is what allows a reconstituted multi-use vial to remain usable across that window rather than being a single-use preparation.

The handling subtlety specific to this molecule is a quality-control one. Precisely because Epitalon is a short, water-soluble peptide that is comparatively easy to synthesise, the barrier to manufacture is low — which means quality varies widely across vendors. That makes purity verification more important, not less. A research-grade material should arrive with a third-party RP-HPLC purity assay of ≥98% peak area and mass-spectrometry confirmation of the parent ion at roughly 391 Da [M+H]⁺, consistent with the AEDG identity established in the analytical literature [4]. Without that documentation, the “dose” on the label is only as trustworthy as the mass actually in the vial.

Cycles and “protocols” — convention vs evidence

The multi-week-course conventions that circulate — a run of consecutive days, a break, a repeat one or more times a year — are presented online as though they were established protocols. They are not derived from any published human dose-response work. They are convention: patterns that propagate through forums and vendor pages, often loosely echoing the “course” structure of the older geroprotector reports without any of the dose-finding rigour that would justify a specific schedule.

The honest distinction is between what the literature describes and what it validates. The published record describes Epitalon administered in courses in animal and small clinical studies, and reports outcomes such as restored circadian melatonin and cortisol rhythms in old rhesus monkeys [2] and improved retinal condition in a controlled patient trial [1]. None of that amounts to a controlled human trial that validates any particular cycle length, dose, or frequency for general use, and the 2025 review is clear that the mechanism itself remains unsettled [3]. So a “cycle” is a convention to recognise when reading the literature — not a dose-response-derived protocol, and not a recommendation made here.

A circulating “Epitalon cycle” is convention, not evidence. No controlled human trial has validated a particular dose, frequency, or course length — the published courses describe experiments in a narrow research lineage, not a protocol for people.

For what Epitalon is and where its research record stands, start with the Epitalon (AEDG) parent synopsis. For the molecular biology, see Epitalon mechanism research; for the telomerase and life-span literature, see Epitalon longevity and telomerase research. For general diluent and documentation handling, see how to reconstitute research peptides, and run any vial-size / concentration / draw-volume combination through the free reconstitution calculator. Supply: Epithalon 10 mg research-consultation page · Epithalon 50 mg research-consultation page.

Frequently asked questions

How do you reconstitute Epitalon?: Epitalon (AEDG) is a small (~390 Da), highly water-soluble peptide with no disulphide bridges, so it dissolves readily. As a laboratory-handling procedure, bacteriostatic water (sterile water with about 0.9% benzyl alcohol) is introduced slowly down the inside wall of the vial rather than onto the powder cake, then the vial is swirled gently to dissolve — never shaken, since shaking can shear and denature the peptide. A 10 mg vial reconstituted with 2 mL gives 5 mg/mL. This is laboratory handling information, not a use instruction: Epitalon is for research use only, not for human consumption.
Is there a recommended Epitalon dose?: No. There is no validated human dose of Epitalon for any use. It is not an approved medicine in any major jurisdiction and has never been through a dose-finding programme that would establish one. The dose figures circulating online are extrapolations from a narrow research lineage — mostly the St Petersburg gerontology group — presented as though they were protocols, which they are not. A 2025 review notes the mechanism itself remains uncertain (PMID 40141333). Any figure should be read as what a specific study administered, not as a recommendation. This is research education, not medical advice.
How should Epitalon be stored?: As a lyophilised powder, Epitalon is most stable at -20°C, protected from light. Once reconstituted, the solution is generally kept refrigerated at 2-8°C and used within the window stated on the vendor’s documentation; the benzyl alcohol preservative in bacteriostatic water is what allows a reconstituted multi-use vial to remain usable across that window. Because Epitalon is a short, water-soluble peptide that is easy to manufacture, vendor quality varies widely — so purity verification (third-party RP-HPLC ≥98% peak area plus mass-spectrometry parent-ion confirmation, ~391 Da [M+H]+, per PMID 29124531) matters more, not less.
What dose of Epitalon was used in studies?: The published Russian literature describes Epitalon administered in a 2002 controlled clinical trial in retinitis-pigmentosa patients, which reported a positive clinical effect in roughly 90% of cases (PMID 12195242), and in geroprotector courses described in Khavinson’s 2002 ‘Peptides and Ageing’ review, which reported restored circadian melatonin and cortisol rhythms in old rhesus monkeys (PMID 12374906). These are descriptions of what those papers administered in a narrow research lineage — not a validated human dose and not a protocol to follow. Epitalon remains research use only, not for human consumption.
How many mg is in an Epitalon vial?: Research-grade Epitalon is commonly supplied as a lyophilised powder in 10 mg and higher-capacity 50 mg vials, with the mass stated as peptide free-base and the salt form noted (acetate is standard). The figure on the label is only as trustworthy as the mass actually in the vial, so a credible certificate of analysis should report a third-party RP-HPLC purity assay (≥98% peak area) and mass-spectrometry confirmation of the parent ion at roughly 391 Da [M+H]+, consistent with the AEDG identity (PMID 29124531). Verifying mass per vial against the COA is part of responsible laboratory handling.