Pinealon: research, legal status and who sells it

What it is

Pinealon is the synthetic tripeptide glutamic acid–aspartic acid–arginine (Glu-Asp-Arg) [8].

Research status

The published evidence is small. A 2011 lab study found that pinealon reduced harmful reactive oxygen molecules and cell death in nerve and immune cells under oxidative stress [8]. The authors suggested that pinealon may also interact directly with the cell’s DNA [8]. A 2012 rat study found that giving pinealon to pregnant rats with experimentally raised homocysteine improved learning in their offspring and made the offspring’s cerebellar neurons more resistant to oxidative stress [9]. A PubMed search for pinealon returns 22 results, most of them Russian-language papers, including a few small studies in people but no large randomized trials [10]. Any claims about benefits in people therefore rest on very limited evidence.

Regulatory status

No pinealon medicine is approved in the US, the UK, the EU or Canada [1][2][3][4][5]. Pinealon does not appear on FDA’s 503A category lists of substances nominated for pharmacy compounding [11]. It is not named in Australia’s Poisons Standard [6] or on WADA’s 2026 Prohibited List, although WADA’s section S0 bans substances with no current approval for human therapeutic use [7].

Quality and testing considerations

Pinealon has no approved reference product in the markets we track [1][2][3][4][5]. For a peptide this small, identity confirmation by mass spectrometry and a measured purity are the only way to know whether a vial contains the stated tripeptide.

Where it’s sold

Pinealon is sold online by research-chemical vendors; the tables below track listings.