Carl read the papersWhat it actually is
Cardiogen is a synthetic tetrapeptide, Ala-Glu-Asp-Arg (AEDR), from Khavinson's bioregulator programme in St Petersburg. The developers say the sequence was identified in a peptide extract from heart tissue.
It is sold as the cardiac member of the family: myocardium support, heart ageing. In Russia it is an oral capsule supplement listing 100 mcg of a peptide complex per capsule. Not to be confused with CardioGen-82, an FDA-approved rubidium agent used in PET heart scans. Same name, nothing in common.
How it’s thought to work
- Cytoskeleton proteins — In mouse fibroblasts it raised actin, tubulin and vimentin 2 to 5 fold and the nuclear lamins A and C 2 to 3 fold. The authors tie this to its claimed heart-protective effect.
- Heart cell renewal — In heart-tissue cultures from young and old rats it boosted cell proliferation and lowered the apoptosis marker p53.
- Chromatin binding — Binds histone proteins in vitro, the family's proposed route to gene regulation.
- Less tissue-specific than advertised — It also acted on ageing human prostate fibroblasts, and in old rats it slowed a transplanted sarcoma by damaging the tumour's blood supply. 'Heart only' is marketing shorthand.
What the research says
Small and preclinical. The peer-reviewed work is heart-tissue cultures, mouse fibroblasts and histone binding. The result that gets repeated, a rat heart-attack model where 24-hour mortality fell from 45% to 15% (40 rats), comes from the developer's US patent, which contains no human data and recommends the peptide for clinical studies. A later review by the same group cites the patent for it. We found no published human study and no registered trial.
- Khavinson-family tetrapeptide (AEDR), marketed for the heart; Russian oral supplement at 100 mcg per capsule.
- Rat heart-attack model: 24-hour mortality 45% (control) vs 15% (treated), per the developer's patent, 40 rats.
- Cell work: more cytoskeletal and nuclear-matrix proteins, more proliferation and less p53 in heart-tissue cultures.
- No human trials found. Not the same thing as CardioGen-82, the FDA-approved heart scan agent.
Reported protocols
These are the doses the peptide community actually reports running (Reddit & forums), alongside published research — logged for education, not as a recommendation to use.
| Parameter | Commonly reported range |
|---|---|
| Community dose | Not established. No vendor-independent user reports found. |
| Russian label (oral) | The capsule supplement lists 100 mcg peptide per capsule, 1 to 2 capsules, 1 to 2 times a day with food for one month, repeat after 4 to 6 months. A supplement label, not a tested dose. |
| Animal reference | The patent's rat heart-attack work used 0.05 mcg per rat, injected at 1, 3 and 5 hours. Not a human number. |
| Injectable | No human injectable dose exists in the literature or the patent. |
| Carl's note | For scale: one milligram is ten of the Russian capsules. Any milligram-level injectable protocol is someone's guess. |
Common use cases
| Goal | Community protocol notes |
|---|---|
| Heart ageing / 'cardio support' | the marketed use; animal and cell evidence only |
| After a heart attack | not a use case. That is cardiology, with treatments that have real outcome data |
| As part of a bioregulator set | the developers group it with Vesugen as the cardiovascular pair |
Mixing it (reconstitution)
Freeze-dried peptides must be reconstituted with bacteriostatic water before they can be measured. Carl’s calculator turns “mg in the vial + ml of water + target dose” into “units on the syringe” — and tells you how long the vial lasts.
→ Open the Reconstitution Calculator
Injection & handling
There is no human injectable dose for Cardiogen anywhere we looked, including the developer's own patent, which tested animals and isolated hearts only. The Russian product is swallowed. If grey-market powder is used anyway, standard research-vial hygiene applies: bacteriostatic water, sterile technique, refrigerate after mixing. And if a heart symptom is what has you looking at a heart peptide, that is the wrong order of operations.
Stacks it appears in
- With Vesugen — The developers' cardiovascular pair (heart and vessels). They review them together; nobody has tested the combination.
- With other bioregulators — A 2006 rat explant study tested Cardiogen, Bronchogen, Prostamax and Pancragen side by side on their matching tissues.
Sources
- Khavinson et al. 2022, Transport of biologically active ultrashort peptides using POT and LAT carriers (Int J Mol Sci)
- Khavinson et al. 2021, Peptide regulation of gene expression: a systematic review (Molecules)
- Patent US7662789B2: peptide substance restoring myocardium function (Khavinson et al.)
- Khavinson et al. 2022, SASP of cardiovascular cells and peptide regulation (Cells, review)
- Khavinson et al. 2012, Tetrapeptide H-Ala-Glu-Asp-Arg-OH stimulates cytoskeletal and nuclear matrix proteins
- Chalisova et al. 2009, Amino acids and cardiogen in myocardium tissue culture from young and old rats (Russian)
- Zakutskii et al. 2006, Tissue-specific effect of synthetic peptide bioregulators in organotypic culture (Russian)
- Levdik and Knyazkin 2009, Tumour-modifying effect of cardiogen on M-1 sarcoma in senescent rats
- Kheifets et al. 2010, Peptide regulation of differentiation factors in ageing human prostate fibroblasts (Russian)
- Fedoreyeva et al. 2013, Short peptides binding FITC-labelled wheat histones
- Khavinson 2002, Peptides and Ageing (Neuro Endocrinol Lett)
- RLS (rlsnet.ru) registry: Cardiogen, dietary supplement (BAD)
- DailyMed: CARDIOGEN-82 (rubidium chloride Rb-82) injection, Bracco Diagnostics
- SAHPRA, Peptide Products: Public Information (May 2026)
- WADA Prohibited List 2026 (S0 and S2.2.1)
- ClinicalTrials.gov search: cardiogen
