What Is Cortagen? Dosage, Half-Life & How to Track It

What Cortagen is and how it works

Cortagen is the trade name for a synthetic tetrapeptide with the sequence Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro, one of several short peptide bioregulators to come out of Russian gerontology research (the Khavinson school, named for the scientist who pioneered the class). Like its siblings in this family, it is built from just a handful of amino acids and is theorized to act less like a conventional drug and more like a tissue-specific signal.

The proposed mechanism for bioregulators generally — and Cortagen specifically — is epigenetic: short peptides binding chromatin and helping regulate which genes a cell expresses, rather than blocking a receptor the way a typical drug does. For Cortagen, the tissue of interest is nervous tissue. The available research describes neuroprotective and neuroregenerative effects, support for peripheral nerve regeneration, reduced oxidative stress in neural tissue, and effects on cognitive function.

It is worth being direct about where that evidence stops: it is preclinical — animal models and cell-culture work — not controlled human trials, and Cortagen is not FDA-approved or clinically validated for any use in people. Treat the mechanism as a research hypothesis, not an established effect.

Typical dosing & reconstitution

Cortagen ships as a lyophilized powder and is reconstituted with bacteriostatic water before use. A 20 mg vial mixed with 3.0 mL of BAC water gives a 6.67 mg/mL concentration, where one unit on a U-100 insulin syringe carries about 66.7 mcg.

The commonly referenced protocol runs it subcutaneously once daily, preferably in the morning, with a gradual step-up over four weeks:

That 3.0 mL dilution is chosen specifically to keep the injection volume in an easily readable range — a more concentrated mix would put the same dose at fewer, harder-to-measure units. Run your own vial size through the calculator to confirm.

Half-life & what it means for frequency

There is no published human pharmacokinetic data for Cortagen — no measured half-life, no clearance curve. That is typical for this entire class of short bioregulator peptides; the once-daily schedule is drawn from how the peptide is dosed in the studies that exist and by analogy with similar bioregulators, not from a calculated blood half-life.

In practice that means the “once daily, morning” convention is a protocol choice rather than a pharmacokinetic requirement — there is no data showing what happens if you shift the timing or split the dose, so consistency (same time, same way, every day) matters more than hitting an exact clock.

What to track & possible side effects

The available research describes Cortagen as well tolerated at the doses studied, with no significant adverse effects reported. That said, human safety data for this compound is minimal — most of what exists comes from animal and in-vitro work, not monitored human use.

Standard peptide precautions apply: source quality varies widely for a compound this obscure, and injection-site rotation reduces local irritation. Because the target is nerve and cognitive function, the useful thing to log alongside each dose is whatever specific marker you're actually tracking — a symptom, a cognitive task, recovery from a nerve injury — so you can see whether weeks of daily dosing are moving anything at all.

Frequently asked questions