A practical reference on ACTH analog: what it is, how it behaves, what the literature reports, and where the honest uncertainties sit.
This page was last updated on 2026-05-08 and is reviewed periodically as new material appears.
The parent fragment ACTH(4-10) carries the sequence Met-Glu-His-Phe-Arg-Trp-Gly. Semax replaces the arginine and tryptophan positions with a proline-glycine-proline tail, giving Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro. That change removes residues associated with adrenal stimulation, so the peptide does not drive cortisol release the way full ACTH does. This distinction shapes how the compound is grouped in the literature, where it sits with neuropeptides and peptide neuromodulators rather than with corticosteroids.
Regulatory status varies sharply by country. Semax is registered for medical use in Russia, where it appears in formularies as a nasal solution, and it also holds registration in a small number of neighbouring states. It has no approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration or the European Medicines Agency, and it is not a scheduled controlled substance in most jurisdictions. Elsewhere it circulates mainly as laboratory material, so purity documentation comes from suppliers rather than from a national pharmacopoeia.
Semax is a synthetic peptide created in the Soviet Union during the early 1980s by researchers working in Moscow. It was built from the short adrenocorticotropic hormone fragment known as ACTH(4-10), and the chain was then extended with three additional amino acids. The resulting molecule was named semax and entered clinical use in Russia in 1994. It is generally described as a nootropic and neuroprotective agent rather than as a hormone analogue.
The compound is registered in Russia as a pharmaceutical product, most commonly formulated as a nasal solution, and has been used in that setting since the 1990s. Outside that jurisdiction it is generally handled as a research chemical rather than an approved medicine. Regulatory status therefore differs sharply between countries, and material sold internationally may not correspond to the Russian pharmaceutical formulation. Documentation with commercial samples is typically limited to a certificate of analysis covering purity and identity, not clinical status or local legal classification.
Semax is a synthetic heptapeptide with the sequence Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro. It corresponds to the ACTH(4-7) fragment extended at the C-terminus by a Pro-Gly-Pro tripeptide, an addition intended to slow enzymatic breakdown. The molecular formula is C37H51N9O10S and the molecular mass is approximately 814 daltons. In the literature it is often described as an ACTH(4-10) analog, although that label reflects a naming convention as much as a precise structural relationship. The compound was developed in Russia and remains most closely associated with that research tradition.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical class | Synthetic heptapeptide | Analogue of the ACTH(4-10) fragment |
| Amino acid sequence | Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro | Single-letter form MEHFPGP |
| Molecular formula | C37H51N9O10S | Free peptide, nominal mass near 814 Da |
| First registration | 1994, Russia | Nasal formulation for neurological indications |
| Typical purity grade | 95% or higher by HPLC | Research material; higher grades used as reference standards |
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.
== Medical uses == Brief reactive psychosis and hypochondriasis-senestopathic syndrome Vegetative dysfunction and vegetative lability Alcohol withdrawal syndrome Temporal lobe epilepsy and myoclonic epilepsy (used only occasionally as better options exist) Hyperkinesia and tics Muscle spasticity Usually, a course of treatment with phenazepam should not normally exceed 2 weeks (in some cases therapy may be prolonged for up to 2 months) due to the risk of drug abuse and dependence. To prevent withdrawal syndrome, it is necessary to reduce the dose gradually.
=== Names === Estrogens, conjugated is the generic name of the drug and its USPTooltip United States Pharmacopeia and JANTooltip Japanese Accepted Name. It is also known as conjugated estrogens or as conjugated equine estrogens. The brand name Premarin is a contraction of "pregnant mares' urine". CEEs are marketed under a large number of brand names throughout the world. The major brand name of the natural form of CEEs manufactured from the urine of pregnant mares is Premarin. Major brand names of fully synthetic versions of CEEs include Cenestin and Enjuvia in the United States and C.E.S. and Congest in Canada. CEEs are also formulated in combination with progestins. Major brand names of CEEs in combination with medroxyprogesterone acetate include Prempro and Premphase in the United States, Premplus in Canada, Premique in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Premia in Australia and New Zealand, and Premelle in South Africa. Prempak-C is a combination of CEEs and norgestrel which is used in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and Prempak N is a combination of CEEs and medrogestone which is used in South Africa. Many of the aforementioned brand names are also used in other, non-English-speaking countries.
Sex reassignment operations (gender-affirming surgery) have been performed in Thailand since 1975, and Thailand is among the most popular destinations globally for patients seeking such operations. Puberty blockers and cross sex hormones are also available to minors in Thailand. Transgender people are quite common in Thai popular entertainment, television shows and nightclub performances, however, transgender people lack various legal rights compared to the rest of the population, and may face discrimination from society. Transgender women, known as kathoeys, have access to hormones through non-prescription sources. This kind of access is a result of the low availability and expense of transgender health care clinics. However, transgender men have difficulty gaining access to hormones such as testosterone in Thailand because it is not as readily available as hormones for kathoeys. As a result, just a third of all trans men surveyed are taking hormones to transition whereas almost three quarters of kathoeys surveyed are taking hormones.
Testing for CJD has historically been problematic, due to the nonspecific nature of early symptoms and difficulty in safely obtaining brain tissue for confirmation. The diagnosis may initially be suspected in a person with rapidly progressing dementia, particularly when it is also found with the characteristic medical signs and symptoms such as involuntary muscle jerking, difficulty with coordination/balance and walking, and visual disturbances. Further testing can support the diagnosis and may include:
== Units == The dalton (symbol: Da) is the standard unit that is used for indicating mass on an atomic or molecular scale (atomic mass). The unified atomic mass unit (symbol: u) is equivalent to the dalton. One dalton is one-twelfth of the mass of one atom of carbon-12, and is 1.66053906892(52)×10−27 kg. The amu without the "unified" prefix is an obsolete unit based on oxygen, which was replaced in 1961.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
=== Family and relationships === McGregor married Eve Mavrakis, a French-Greek Jewish production designer whom he met on the set of Kavanagh QC, in 1995. Together they have four daughters: actresses Clara and Esther as well as two adopted girls, one of whom, Jamyan McGregor, was an orphaned child from Mongolia. He met her while travelling in April 2004 for the filming of Long Way Round. With his children raised in Mavrakis's Jewish faith, McGregor said in 2016, "My involvement in religion has more to do with the Jewish faith now and not the Christian faith, which I was very vaguely brought up in." McGregor has a heart and dagger tattoo of the names of Mavrakis and their daughters on his right arm. McGregor has appeared alongside his daughter Clara in Christopher Robin, The Birthday Cake and Bleeding Love. On 19 January 2018, having been separated since May 2017, McGregor filed for divorce from Mavrakis, citing irreconcilable differences; the divorce was finalised on 13 August 2020. In May 2017, McGregor began a relationship with American actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead, whom he met on the set of Fargo. Their son was born in June 2021. McGregor and Winstead married in April 2022.
=== Pharmacodynamics === The mechanistic underpinnings of bemethyl's effects are not well understood, but some evidence implicate alterations in protein synthesis and glucose metabolism, in addition to antioxidant activity, as relevant mechanisms of action.
== History == The school was established by U.S. President Millard Fillmore in 1846. Buffalo was a boomtown on the Erie Canal and the gateway to the West. Leading citizens — primarily physicians and lawyers — proposed that an institution of higher learning be established, which led to the founding of the private, nonsectarian University of Buffalo. The Medical School, or Medical Department, as it was called, was the first decanal unit within the university, and 40 years passed before other departments were added. Medical classes began February 24, 1847, with an enrollment of 66 students. The medical school's first permanent location was next to Buffalo General Hospital in downtown Buffalo. In 1893, the school relocated to High Street in the city, where it remained until 1953, when it moved to the university's South Campus. It moved in 2017 to a new campus on High and Main Streets, again adjacent to the Buffalo General Hospital complex. In 1962, University of Buffalo merged with the State University of New York (SUNY) system. The Medical School then became the School of Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo. Throughout its history, the university has not owned or operated a teaching hospital, but instead has instructed students in affiliated hospitals throughout the city. Today's network of teaching affiliations was formalized in 1983 as the Graduate Medical Dental Education Consortium of Buffalo.
Morten Peter Meldal (born 16 January 1954) is a Danish chemist and Nobel laureate. He is a professor of chemistry at the University of Copenhagen in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is best known for developing the CuAAC-click reaction, concurrently with but independent of Valery V. Fokin and K. Barry Sharpless.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Registered medical products are most often 0.1% nasal drops. Research suppliers ship lyophilized powder, usually in milligram quantities, which is dissolved before use. The active peptide is the same in both cases; presentation and excipients differ.
No. The peptide is synthetic, although it is modelled on a fragment of a naturally occurring hormone. ACTH(4-10) is generated when ACTH is cleaved, but the Pro-Gly-Pro extension is not a known endogenous sequence. It is therefore a designed analogue rather than a natural metabolite.
The label reflects reported effects on attention, memory and recovery after neurological injury in regional clinical reports. Those reports are mostly small and have not been widely replicated outside the region. The classification is descriptive and does not imply a single defined mechanism.
It is registered as a pharmaceutical product in Russia, where it is typically supplied as a nasal solution. In most other countries it is not an approved drug and is traded as a research chemical instead. Approval status depends entirely on the jurisdiction involved.