Summary
Selank is a synthetic seven-amino-acid peptide based on tuftsin, a short fragment of an antibody protein that occurs naturally in the body, with a stabilising tail added. Like Semax it was developed in Russia and is used there as an anti-anxiety drug; the clinical work below comes from that setting. It is not an approved medicine in the UK, US or Australia.
What it targets
Radioligand work on isolated brain cell membranes indicates Selank acts as a positive allosteric modulator of GABA binding, the same broad system benzodiazepines act on, though its interaction with them is not simply additive: it could block the modulating activity of diazepam and olanzapine, suggesting overlapping rather than identical binding sites. In rats, Selank given alone reduced anxiety measures on the elevated plus maze, and combined with diazepam it returned chronically stressed animals to their pre-stress values. A separate rat study found it prevented the memory and attention problems that followed long-term alcohol exposure, alongside changes in BDNF. The human evidence linked here compares a benzodiazepine alone against the same drug with Selank added in 70 people with anxiety disorders; the authors report an earlier response and fewer benzodiazepine side effects. There is no placebo-controlled trial of Selank by itself among the papers linked here.
Clinical Research
Suppliers stocking Selank
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