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DSIP vs Epitalon

Last updated: October 3, 2026 · 5 min read · By the Grey Peptides Editorial Board

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Grey Peptides
Grey Peptides Editorial Board
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Key takeaways
  • DSIP was tested in small human sleep trials decades ago, with inconsistent results; it was never developed into a medicine.
  • Epitalon's evidence is mostly cell and animal studies from one research group; the long human study often quoted used a different product, a pineal extract.
  • Neither is approved anywhere, and both fall under WADA's S0 by inference.

Side by side

DSIP Low and epitalon Low are often sold together for sleep, recovery and 'anti-ageing'. Their evidence comes from different kinds of studies 1. The table is read from our encyclopedia entries.

FieldDSIPEpithalon
Encyclopedia entryDSIP Full entryEpithalon Full entry
Molecule classPeptidePeptide
CategoryCognitiveLongevity
FDA statusResearch ChemicalResearch Chemical
Approved elsewhereNone recordedNone recorded
Evidence gradeLowLow
Half-life≈ 7 minutesNot characterised in humans
FormulaC35H48N10O15C14H22N4O9
Molecular weight848.8 g/mol390.4 g/mol
WADA 2026Prohibited (S0 catch-all)Prohibited (S0 catch-all)
WADA 2027Prohibited (S0 catch-all)Prohibited (S0 catch-all)
In one lineA nine-amino-acid peptide isolated from rabbit brain blood in 1977 and named for delta-wave sleep, whose sleep effects in human trials were weak and inconsistent.A synthetic pineal tetrapeptide from Vladimir Khavinson's St. Petersburg group, with telomerase and telomere-length data from cell cultures and little human evidence.
MechanismUnknown. No gene, precursor protein or receptor for DSIP has been identified, and a 2006 review calls its role as a sleep factor poorly documented. In humans, infused DSIP did not change ACTH, cortisol, growth hormone or prolactin secretion, and in anaesthetised patients it raised heart rate and, paradoxically, reduced EEG delta rhythm.In telomerase-negative human fetal fibroblasts it induced expression of telomerase's catalytic subunit, telomerase activity and telomere elongation (2003); a 2025 study reported dose-dependent telomere lengthening in normal human cells through hTERT and telomerase upregulation, and through ALT activation in breast-cancer cell lines. Animal and extract studies also report melatonin and antioxidant effects. The molecular mechanism is not settled, and most of the literature comes from the developers' group.
Sources in the entry1112
Study cards1012
Dosage pageDosage pageDosage page

DSIP: small sleep trials, unresolved biology

Delta sleep-inducing peptide was isolated from rabbit brain blood in Basel in 1977 as a candidate sleep factor; a 2006 review notes that its link to sleep was never further characterised, partly because no DSIP gene, protein or receptor has been found (review) 2. In six healthy volunteers, a slow intravenous infusion in the morning produced sleep pressure at once and raised total sleep over the next hours in a double-blind crossover (human study) 3.

The insomnia trials were mixed. Fourteen middle-aged people with chronic insomnia slept substantially better over seven nights of injections in one double-blind trial (randomised trial) 4; in sixteen chronic insomniacs, sleep efficiency was higher with afternoon infusions (randomised trial) 5; but in another crossover, fewer awakenings were not significant against baseline or placebo (randomised trial) 6. All were small and intravenous, not the injections under the skin sold online.

Epitalon: telomeres in a dish, lifespan in mice

Epitalon is a four-amino-acid peptide (AEDG) developed in St. Petersburg; our entry notes that much of its literature comes from that group and that independent replication is limited 1. Its founding result was in cells: added to telomerase-negative human fetal fibroblasts, it induced telomerase and telomere elongation (laboratory study) 7. In lymphocytes from 11 men, relative telomere length changed significantly in seven, rising in five and falling in two (laboratory study) 8.

In 54 female mice given monthly five-day courses from three months of age until death, average lifespan, body weight and food intake did not change against saline (animal study) 9. The 12-year randomised study in elderly patients with coronary disease, often cited for epitalon, used epithalamin, a bovine pineal extract, not synthetic epitalon (human study) 10.

Do either help sleep?

DSIP is the one with sleep trials, and their results were inconsistent across small intravenous studies 4 6. Epitalon is linked to sleep mainly through claims about melatonin and the pineal gland; the pineal extract epithalamin raised melatonin in animal work 11, but we found no controlled trial of synthetic epitalon for sleep in people. Neither has been compared with an approved sleep treatment.

Questions to ask before choosing either

  • For sleep: has the cause of poor sleep been assessed, and have established treatments, including behavioural therapy for insomnia, been tried?
  • Were DSIP's trials run by the same route as the product on offer? They used intravenous infusions 3.
  • Does a claim about epitalon cite synthetic epitalon, or the pineal extract epithalamin 10?
  • Has any independent group reproduced the telomere result in people?
  • Am I subject to anti-doping testing, where both fall under S0 by inference 1?

How the differences add up (as of October 3, 2026)

DSIP has a little human evidence and an unresolved mechanism; epitalon has a striking cell result, a null average-lifespan result in mice, and a human literature that largely concerns a different product. Neither is approved in the US, EU, UK, Canada or Australia, and both fall under WADA's S0 by inference 1. Doses on this page are those in our entries' sources, not recommendations.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between DSIP and epitalon?

DSIP is a nine-amino-acid peptide tested in small sleep trials decades ago; epitalon is a four-amino-acid peptide studied mainly in cells and animals for telomeres and ageing.

Does DSIP help with sleep?

Small intravenous trials in the 1980s and 1990s gave inconsistent results, and DSIP was never developed into a medicine.

Does epitalon extend lifespan?

In one mouse study, monthly courses did not change average lifespan. The often-cited human study used a pineal extract, not synthetic epitalon.

Sources

  1. Grey Peptides dataset records for DSIP and epithalon (FDA status, WADA status S0 inferred, studied doses as sourced on each entry); read October 3, 2026.
  2. Kovalzon, V. M., et al. (2006). Delta sleep-inducing peptide (DSIP): a still unresolved riddle. J Neurochem, 97(2), 303-9. PMID: 16539679
  3. Schneider-Helmert, D., et al. (1981). Acute and delayed effects of DSIP (delta sleep-inducing peptide) on human sleep behavior. Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther Toxicol, 19(8), 341-5. PMID: 6895513
  4. Schneider-Helmert, D. (1987). Effects of delta-sleep-inducing peptide on 24-hour sleep-wake behaviour in severe chronic insomnia. Eur Neurol, 27(2), 120-9. PMID: 3622582
  5. Bes, F., et al. (1992). Effects of delta sleep-inducing peptide on sleep of chronic insomniac patients. A double-blind study. Neuropsychobiology, 26(4), 193-7. PMID: 1299794
  6. Monti, J. M., et al. (1987). Study of delta sleep-inducing peptide efficacy in improving sleep on short-term administration to chronic insomniacs. Int J Clin Pharmacol Res, 7(2), 105-10. PMID: 3583493
  7. Khavinson, V. K. h., et al. (2003). Epithalon peptide induces telomerase activity and telomere elongation in human somatic cells. Bull Exp Biol Med, 135(6), 590-2. PMID: 12937682
  8. Khavinson, V. K., et al. (2019). Effect of Peptide AEDG on Telomere Length and Mitotic Index of PHA-Stimulated Human Blood Lymphocytes. Bull Exp Biol Med, 168(1), 141-144. PMID: 31761987
  9. Anisimov, V. N., et al. (2003). Effect of Epitalon on biomarkers of aging, life span and spontaneous tumor incidence in female Swiss-derived SHR mice. Biogerontology, 4(4), 193-202. PMID: 14501183
  10. Korkushko, O. V., et al. (2006). Geroprotective effect of epithalamine (pineal gland peptide preparation) in elderly subjects with accelerated aging. Bull Exp Biol Med, 142(3), 356-9. PMID: 17426848
  11. Anisimov, V. N., et al. (1998). Pineal peptide preparation epithalamin increases the lifespan of fruit flies, mice and rats. Mech Ageing Dev, 103(2), 123-32. PMID: 9701766

Educational information, not medical advice. Each dose in this guide names its source, an approved label or a published study. None is a recommendation for you. An unapproved compound has no established safe or effective human dose, and products sold for “research use only” are not made or tested for people. Talk to a doctor before acting on anything on this site, including before you start, stop or change any medicine or dose.

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