nootropic raises a handful of sensible questions. This page answers them in order, starting with the fundamentals and moving to applications.
This page was last updated on 2025-09-09 and is reviewed periodically as new material appears.
当时的短肽研究普遍关注能否穿越血脑屏障、在低剂量下产生中枢效应，Semax 属于这一路线。鼻内给药是其主要使用方式，俄语文献报道的适应症涵盖缺血性卒中、短暂性脑缺血发作、认知功能减退以及视神经病变。这些研究大多发表在当地期刊上，样本规模与终点设置同西方试验惯例存在差异，国际同行对其临床证据的强度看法不一。
各国监管态度分化明显。俄罗斯按处方药管理，部分东欧国家留有使用记录；欧盟与美国未批准其作为药物上市，市面流通品通常标注为研究用化学品。身份差异意味着标示含量、纯度与无菌性缺少统一核查。体育领域还牵涉反兴奋剂名录，跨境携带则受目的地药品法规约束。
Semax 是人工设计的七肽，序列为 Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro，骨架取自促肾上腺皮质激素片段 ACTH(4-10)。它于二十世纪八十年代在苏联的分子遗传学研究机构内合成。设计目标是保留该片段与注意力和记忆相关的活性，同时剔除促皮质激素释放等内分泌作用。此后俄罗斯将其登记为药品并进入临床使用。
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 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.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 结构类别 | 线性合成七肽 | 无环化结构，不含二硫键 |
| 氨基酸序列 | Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro | N 端为甲硫氨酸 |
| 分子量 | 约 814 Da | 游离碱形式的计算值 |
| 外观 | 白色至类白色粉末 | 具吸湿性 |
| 溶解性 | 易溶于水 | 亦可溶于甲醇等极性溶剂 |
Semax is a synthetic heptapeptide whose sequence is Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro. The first four residues correspond to the ACTH(4-10) fragment, while the terminal Pro-Gly-Pro extension was added to improve metabolic stability. Its molecular formula is C37H51N9O10S and its monoisotopic mass is approximately 813.9 Da. The compound is classified as a peptide research chemical and as a registered pharmaceutical product in Russia, but it does not hold marketing approval in the European Union or the United States. Naming conventions vary across supplier catalogs.
Development of the compound took place in the Soviet Union during the 1980s, largely through peptide research groups affiliated with the Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute and Moscow State University. Investigators screened fragments of adrenocorticotropic hormone for activity on the central nervous system while attempting to separate cognitive effects from hormonal ones. The shortened sequence was selected because it retained behavioral activity in animal models without stimulating corticosteroid release. Early publications described the molecule as an ACTH(4-10) analog.
Published research on this peptide originates mainly from Russian laboratories, and the wider international literature is comparatively thin. Studies have used rodent models of stroke, hypoxia, and memory tasks, with a smaller number of human trials reported. Reported outcomes include changes in attention and memory measures, along with effects on neurotrophic factor expression in some experiments. Small sample sizes, inconsistent dosing protocols, and limited independent replication are widely noted limitations, so the strength of the clinical evidence remains an open question.
Semax 是一种人工合成的七肽，氨基酸序列为 Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro，单字母缩写记作 MEHFPGP。它被归类为促肾上腺皮质激素片段 ACTH(4-10) 的结构类似物，但并不天然存在于生物体内。母体片段 ACTH(4-10) 的序列为 Met-Glu-His-Phe-Arg-Trp-Gly，Semax 替换了中间两个残基，并在羧基端延长了 Pro-Gly-Pro 三肽。这种延长被普遍认为能提升分子对肽酶的耐受性。
该化合物于二十世纪八十年代在俄罗斯被开发，相关工作由俄罗斯科学院分子遗传学研究所的研究团队主导。开发目标并非复制 ACTH 的完整激素活性，而是寻找保留其神经作用方向、同时去除促肾上腺皮质激素释放效应的短肽片段。研究记录显示，这一方向促成了多个相关短肽的合成与筛选，而 Semax 是其中被研究最广泛的一个。当地文献常以 Семакс 这一名称指代它。
Semax is a synthetic heptapeptide whose sequence is Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro. It was developed as a fragment analog of adrenocorticotropic hormone, modeled specifically on the ACTH(4-10) region. The first four residues reproduce that fragment, while a Pro-Gly-Pro tripeptide is appended at the C-terminus. Work on the compound originated in Russia, where it entered clinical use as an intranasal preparation. Its sequence places it among short regulatory peptides studied for effects on the central nervous system rather than on the adrenal axis.
The C-terminal Pro-Gly-Pro extension is not incidental. Proline-rich tails are known to resist several common peptidases, and the published literature attributes the longer half-life of Semax, relative to unmodified ACTH fragments, to this feature. The modification also removes the melanocyte-stimulating and corticosteroidogenic activity that characterizes longer ACTH-derived sequences. Because the molecule is small and hydrophilic, it is typically formulated as an aqueous solution for intranasal or parenteral delivery. Acetylation or amidation at the termini appears in closely related research peptides and shifts the mass by a fixed increment.
Laboratory descriptions of the material are consistent across suppliers. It appears as a white to off-white lyophilized powder that dissolves readily in water and in polar organic solvents such as dimethyl sulfoxide. Aqueous solutions are clear and colorless at low concentrations. Because the peptide contains methionine, oxidation at the sulfur atom is a recognized degradation pathway, and handling notes usually call for protected, desiccated storage. Reported purity for research-grade lots is generally above 95 percent as measured by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.
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.
=== Tanning === Potassium alum is used in leather tanning, in order to remove moisture from the hide and prevent rotting. Unlike tannic acid, alum doesn't bind to the hide and can be washed out of it.
mRNA vaccines have emerged as an important new class of vaccines, using mRNA to manufacture proteins which provoke an immune response. Their first successful large-scale application came in the form of COVID-19 vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
== Disease relevance == CHS, as the first committed step in the flavonoid pathway, facilitate production of flavanoids, isoflavonoid-type phytoalexins and other metabolites to protect the plant from stress. CHS expression is also involved in the salicyclic acid defense pathway. Being aromatic compounds, flavonoids strongly absorb UV light through a photoreceptor-mediated mechanism which effectively protects the plants from DNA damage. CHS is involved in a broader, more general phenylpropanoid pathway which serve as precursors to a range of plant metabolites important to human health such as antioxidants, anti-inflammatory agents, antiallergens, and even antioncogenic products.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
=== Relation between compound and effects === There is an overlap of many anthropogenically sourced chemicals that humans are exposed to regularly. This makes it difficult to attribute negative health causality to a specific, isolated compound. EPA manages a Contaminant Candidate List to review substances that may need to be controlled in public water systems. EPA has also listed twelve contaminants of emerging concern at federal facilities, with ranging origins, health effects, and means of exposure. The twelve listed contaminants are as follows: Trichloropropane (TCP), Dioxane, Trinitrotoluene (TNT), Dinitrotoluene, Hexahydro-trinitro-triazane (RDX), N-nitroso-dimethylamine (NDMA), Perchlorate, Polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), Tungsten, Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and Nanomaterials.
== Mechanism == Three main changes are seen in the mechanism of Raynaud's phenomenon: reduced blood flow, blood vessel constriction, and neurogenic, inflammatory, and immune responses. It is induced by emotional stress and coldness. In all cases, the primary cause is an underlying hyperactivation of the sympathetic nervous system, although the exact pathophysiology differs depending on the type. In the primary type, there is an increase in sensitivity due to the issues mentioned above, resulting in vasoconstriction. In the secondary type, normal activity of blood vessels is disrupted due to the same issues, causing vasoconstriction which leads to ischemia and tissue death.
This all-or-nothing property of the action potential sets it apart from graded potentials such as receptor potentials, electrotonic potentials, subthreshold membrane potential oscillations, and synaptic potentials, which scale with the magnitude of the stimulus. A variety of action potential types exist in many cell types and cell compartments as determined by the types of voltage-gated channels, leak channels, channel distributions, ionic concentrations, membrane capacitance, temperature, and other factors. The principal ions involved in an action potential are sodium and potassium cations; sodium ions enter the cell, and potassium ions leave, restoring equilibrium. Relatively few ions need to cross the membrane for the membrane voltage to change drastically. The ions exchanged during an action potential, therefore, make a negligible change in the interior and exterior ionic concentrations. The few ions that do cross are pumped out again by the continuous action of the sodium–potassium pump, which, with other ion transporters, maintains the normal ratio of ion concentrations across the membrane. Calcium cations and chloride anions are involved in a few types of action potentials, such as the cardiac action potential and the action potential in the single-cell alga Acetabularia, respectively. Although action potentials are generated locally on patches of excitable membrane, the resulting currents can trigger action potentials on neighboring stretches of membrane, precipitating a domino-like propagation.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
不存在。它是依据 ACTH 的一段序列人工设计的分子，天然蛋白质中找不到与之完全相同的七肽。名称属于研究代号，而非天然物质名。
Semax 对应 ACTH 第 4 至第 10 位的片段，并在两端做了替换与延长，使其不再具备促肾上腺皮质激素的典型内分泌活性。这一改动同时改变了它在体内的稳定性与分布特征。
俄罗斯将其列为处方药物，需要医生开具处方。多数其他国家把它当作研究化合物，不能作为药品销售或宣称疗效。具体合法性取决于当地法规。
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.