Comparative study of analgesic potency of ACTH4-10 fragment and its analog semax.
Ivanova. D M DM; Levitskaya. N G NG; Andreeva. L A LA; Kamenskii. A A AA; Myasoedov. N F NF
Key Findings
- Semax reduced pain in multiple animal models (hindpaw compression, acetic acid writhing)
- Effective dose range in animals was 0.015‑0.5 mg/kg, lower than the parent peptide
- Replacing three C‑terminal residues with Pro‑Gly‑Pro increased analgesic potency compared to ACTH4‑10
Practical Outcomes
- For now, the results suggest semax could be a promising pain‑relief agent, but there’s no human data to guide dosing or safety. Biohackers should treat this as early‑stage evidence and wait for clinical trials before trying it for personal use.
Summary
The study tested semax, a modified peptide, in rats and mice and found it lowered pain responses in several standard pain tests, working at doses as low as 0.015 mg/kg. It was more effective than the original ACTH4‑10 fragment, showing that the three‑amino‑acid change boosted its pain‑killing power. However, the work was done only in animals, so we don’t yet know how it works in people or what safe human doses would be.
Abstract
The effects of ACTH4-10 fragment and its analog semax on nociception were examined on various animal models. ACTH4-10 in a dose of 0.5 mg/kg decreased nociception in rats during hindpaw compression test and in mice subjected to acetic acid writhing test. Lower doses of ACTH4-10 produced no analgesic effect. Semax (0.015-0.500 mg/kg) decreased pain sensitivity in all experimental models. Hence, the substitution of three C-terminal amino acid residues in ACTH4-10 for Pro-Gly-Pro sequence augmented the analgesic potency of the peptide after its peripheral injection.
Study Information
pubmed
2007
10.1007/s10517-007-0002-5
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