Compound profile
Selank
Limited human dataAlso known as: TP-7 · Tuftsin-analogue heptapeptide
A synthetic heptapeptide anxiolytic developed alongside Semax at Russia's Institute of Molecular Genetics, studied for generalized anxiety disorder and neurasthenia. Frequently paired with Semax in nootropic-peptide discussions.
Overview
Selank is a synthetic heptapeptide developed as an analogue of tuftsin, a naturally occurring tetrapeptide originally discovered at Tufts University in the United States in the 1970s that is produced when the immune system cleaves a piece off the IgG antibody heavy chain and is involved in activating certain white blood cells. Researchers at Russia's Institute of Molecular Genetics, working under the same Myasoedov led research program that produced Semax, took tuftsin's sequence and extended it in the early to mid 1990s to build a more stable, longer acting compound.
The resulting molecule, Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro, keeps tuftsin's original four amino acids and adds the same stabilizing Pro-Gly-Pro tripeptide used in Semax, which resists breakdown by carboxypeptidase and prolyl endopeptidase enzymes and extends the compound's activity well beyond native tuftsin's short half life. Selank is discussed mainly as an anxiolytic, or anti-anxiety compound, rather than as a straightforward immune peptide like its tuftsin parent, though some immunomodulatory research on it continues alongside the anxiety and cognition work.
In Russia, Selank is registered as a pharmaceutical product, a 0.15 percent nasal drop formulation, used for generalized anxiety disorder and neurasthenia, and it is available there over the counter or by prescription depending on the product. Outside Russia and the surrounding region, it has no drug approval anywhere and is sold exclusively as an unregulated research chemical, most often as a nasal spray, and it is frequently discussed alongside Semax in nootropic and biohacking communities.
Mechanism (plain language)
An analogue of the immunomodulatory peptide tuftsin, proposed to act on GABAergic signaling and enkephalin metabolism rather than through benzodiazepine receptor binding, which is the basis for claims of anxiolytic effects "without" classic sedative-hypnotic side effects.
How it works
Selank's parent compound, tuftsin, works mainly on immune cells, activating phagocytes and modulating inflammatory signaling. Selank retains some of that immunomodulatory activity, but the research and marketing interest in it centers on a different proposed mechanism: effects on GABA related signaling in the brain and on the metabolism of enkephalins, the body's own opioid like peptides involved in mood and pain regulation.
This is offered as the explanation for why Selank is described as anxiolytic without the sedation, motor impairment, or dependence risk associated with benzodiazepine drugs like diazepam, which work directly on GABA-A receptors at a binding site shared with alcohol and other sedatives. Because Selank does not appear to bind that same benzodiazepine site, researchers who developed it argue its calming effect runs through a separate pathway, though the exact molecular targets have not been mapped with the same precision as classic anxiolytic drugs, and this mechanism rests on a smaller and less independently replicated body of work than better characterized drug classes.
What research suggests
Randomized comparative trials in patients with generalized anxiety disorder and neurasthenia report anxiolytic effects comparable to benzodiazepines like medazepam and phenazepam, plus modest nootropic and immunomodulatory effects, without the sedation or dependence typically seen with benzodiazepines.
Reported benefits
What studies, case reports, and the research literature describe, not guaranteed outcomes. The trials behind these findings are in the studies below.
Anxiolytic effects comparable to benzodiazepines
A randomized comparative trial in patients with generalized anxiety disorder and neurasthenia found Selank produced anxiolytic effects similar to the benzodiazepine medazepam, alongside additional antiasthenic and mild psychostimulant effects.
Comparable tolerability profile in trials
A separate comparative trial against the benzodiazepine phenazepam reported similar anxiolytic benefit with effects described as persisting for up to a week after the last dose, without the sedation typically seen with benzodiazepines.
Mild nootropic effects
Trials report modest improvements in cognitive and attention related measures alongside the anxiolytic effect, though this is a secondary finding rather than the primary studied endpoint.
Immunomodulatory activity
Reflecting its tuftsin origin, some studies describe mild immune modulating effects, though this is a smaller and less developed area of the Selank literature than its anxiolytic research.
Uncertainties & risks
Nearly all human data comes from Russian trials with relatively small samples; independent, large-scale, international replication is lacking. Long-term safety data outside these trials is limited, and mechanism claims (GABAergic modulation, enkephalin effects) are not fully settled.
Selank's human evidence is real but narrow. The comparative trials against medazepam and phenazepam are randomized and were conducted in actual patient populations with diagnosed anxiety disorders, which is a stronger design than most peptides discussed in online research communities can claim, but the number of independent research groups behind that literature is small, the trials were run in Russia, and international, non Russian replication is essentially absent. Outside Russia, Selank has no regulatory status as a medicine, so anyone using it is working with an unregulated research chemical rather than a vetted pharmaceutical, and manufacturing quality, purity, and accurate dosing cannot be assumed the way they can with an approved drug. Long term safety data beyond the length of the published clinical trials is limited, and the proposed GABAergic and enkephalin related mechanisms, while plausible, have not been confirmed with the same rigor applied to established anxiolytic drug classes.
STACKD study summaries
Start with our in-house roundups, plain-language synthesis of the research, with primary sources cited at the bottom of each.
Primary sources
Secondary citations for verification. Prefer the STACKD summary above for context before opening these.