Cerluten

Cerluten is peptide complex A-5, extracted from the cerebral tissue of calves under twelve months old, at 10 mg per capsule. Compositionally it belongs to the same family as Cortexin and Cerebrolysin, both of which are brain-tissue peptide preparations with actual clinical use - the difference is that those are injected and have registration trials behind them, while Cerluten is a swallowed supplement with none. The claimed action is restoration of neuronal metabolic and synthetic activity in ageing brain tissue. Neither blood-brain-barrier penetration nor oral absorption of the intact fraction has been demonstrated.

Targets: Cerebral neurons, Neurotrophic signalling, Neuronal protein synthesis

• · 10 mg of peptide complex per capsule; one to two capsules gives 10-20 mg a day.

Work out your exact syringe units →

• uncommonMild headache— Reported anecdotally early in a course.
• uncommonMild digestive upset— Often excipient-related.
• rareAllergic reaction to bovine protein— Animal-tissue-derived product.

• Known bovine protein allergy.
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding - no data.
• Seizure disorder - no evidence of risk, but brain-tissue peptide preparations have no seizure-safety data at all and caution is warranted.
• Unverified-source product carries a theoretical prion risk given the source tissue - this is the one Cytomax where that concern is most pointed, since it is central nervous tissue.

• redundantcerebrolysin — Cerebrolysin is a comparable brain peptide preparation with real clinical trials; if you want this class of effect, it is the better-evidenced option.
• redundantpinealon — Pinealon is the synthetic neuron-directed Cytogen aimed at the same claim.
• redundantcortagen — Cortagen is the synthetic cortical tetrapeptide from the same fractionation lineage.

• · Use a fixed cognitive benchmark - a reaction-time test or a standard memory task - before and after a course rather than relying on impression.
• · No bloodwork is established.

Sold as a food supplement in Russia and much of Europe; imported elsewhere as a dietary supplement. Not an approved drug.

• Khavinson & Malinin, Gerontological Aspects of Genome Peptide Regulation (Karger monograph) (review)
• Anisimov & Khavinson, peptide bioregulation of aging: results and prospects (Biogerontology) (review)

There is no mechanism to describe beyond the class claim, because there is no primary literature on this product. A PubMed search for Cerluten returns nothing. What exists instead is a lineage argument: Cerluten is compositionally related to Cortexin, a bovine brain polypeptide preparation given intramuscularly in Russian neurology, and to Cerebrolysin, a porcine brain peptide preparation given intravenously and studied in multiple Western-indexed randomised trials in stroke and vascular dementia. Both of those are injected. Both are given at doses of milligrams to tens of milligrams of peptide directly into the circulation. The inference that a 10 mg capsule swallowed before breakfast produces a comparable effect requires you to accept two unmeasured steps in series, and the probability of the conjunction is the product of two unknowns. The synthetic Cytogens aimed at the same claims - Pinealon and Cortagen - at least have identified molecules, published cell-culture data and, in Cortagen's case, an in vivo nerve regeneration result. Cerluten has a source tissue and a brand.

The substitution failure is the important one. Progressive cognitive decline needs a workup: B12, thyroid, depression screening, sleep apnoea assessment, medication review, and in the right context imaging and formal neuropsychological testing. Several of the causes found that way are treatable. Running monthly capsule courses instead delays all of it. Beyond that, this is the Cytomax where the source-tissue question is most pointed: bovine central nervous system tissue is the specific material class associated with transmissible spongiform encephalopathy risk, and while regulated Russian manufacture screens for it, a grey-market repackaged product may not be what the box says. That is not a reason for panic; it is a reason to buy only from the registered manufacturer's supply chain or not at all.

• No identified receptor or molecular target — None published

  Nothing has been characterised. There is no primary literature on this product under this name.

• Neuronal protein synthesis and neurotrophic signalling (claimed)

  Asserted by the manufacturer by analogy with Cortexin and Cerebrolysin. Not demonstrated for this preparation or this route.

Nothing acute. Weeks one to two: a mild headache is the commonest early anecdotal report and usually settles. Weeks two to four: the window in which users describe subtle changes, which is also the window in which practice effects on any self-administered cognitive test are largest - which is why the baseline has to be multiple runs, not one. End of course: retest the benchmark. Beyond that nothing is established, because nothing has been studied.

Cerluten with Pinealon or Cortagen is duplication of claim across formats, and the synthetics at least have identified molecules and published data. Cerluten with Cerebrolysin is redundant and the comparison is instructive: one is an injectable with randomised trial data, the other a capsule with none. The nootropic stacks this appears in are usually carrying something with real evidence - Semax, citicoline, caffeine plus L-theanine - and that component is doing whatever work gets done.

Against Cerebrolysin: a different tier entirely - intravenous, gram-scale, multiple randomised trials in stroke and dementia with mixed but real results. Against Cortexin: an injectable bovine brain polypeptide with established Russian neurological use. Against Semax: registered in Russia, human trial data, intranasal, and far better characterised. Against Pinealon: a defined tripeptide with rigorous DNA-binding chemistry and rodent neuroprotection data. Cerluten sits below all of them and its main selling point is convenience.

$70–$200/month. A 20-capsule bottle covers ten to twenty days depending on dose. Indicative pricing for the branded Russian product, not verified against vendor listings in this session.

• ?No indexed primary literature exists for Cerluten under this name - none at all.
• ?Oral bioavailability of the peptide complex has never been measured.
• ?Blood-brain barrier penetration has never been measured and is doubly implausible for an orally dosed sub-5 kDa fraction.
• ?No controlled trial of any endpoint exists for this product.
• ?Composition is not published lot by lot.
• ?Whether Cortexin or Cerebrolysin data has any bearing on this product is unknown; the route and the preparation both differ.
• ?Cost figures are indicative estimates and were not verified against live vendor listings in this session.

• Peptide bioregulation of aging: results and prospects Anisimov VN, Khavinson VKh, Biogerontology, 2010 · PMID 19830585

  The programme overview. There is no Cerluten-specific citation to offer because no indexed primary literature on this product exists.

• Short Peptides Regulate Gene Expression Khavinson VK, Lin'kova NS, Tarnovskaya SI, Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 2016 · PMID 27909961

  The general model that the brain Cytomax claims are drawn from, applied to the synthetic peptides rather than to this extract.