In this guide
What is Cardiogen?
Cardiogen is a very short lab-made peptide, a chain of just four amino acids, that people take hoping to support the heart: as prevention with age, for chest pain from narrowed heart arteries, for blood pressure, or during recovery after a heart attack.
It comes from a Russian research program led by Vladimir Khavinson, whose group calls these short peptides bioregulators and names each one after the organ it is meant to target: “cardio” for the heart. The patent describes the chain alanine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid and arginine, written Ala-Glu-Asp-Arg or AEDR. [1], [2]
The name now covers two different products. In Russia, Cardiogen is a dietary-supplement capsule declaring 100 mcg of a “peptide complex” made of those four amino acids in each capsule; the label does not say how much of that complex is the AEDR chain itself. Western peptide vendors sell 20 mg vials of powder for injection, usually labeled as research chemicals. The capsule has a manufacturer's instruction leaflet and two small human reports; the vials have neither. No regulator we checked has approved either one as a medicine. [3], [4], [5], [6]
The name also causes confusion. CardioGen-82 is a radioactive imaging agent used for heart scans in hospitals, and in the PubChem chemical database the word “Cardiogen” is listed as another name for L-carnitine. Neither is this peptide. Some vendors and websites even give Cardiogen a different amino-acid chain. [7], [8], [9], [10]
One name, several products
- Capsule (Russia)
- What it is: Dietary-supplement capsule, 0.2 g, declaring 100 mcg of peptide complex (Ala, Glu, Asp, Arg)Route: Oral (swallowed) with foodLabel schedule: 1–2 capsules, 1–2 times a day, for 1 month; repeat after 4–6 monthsDaily amount: 100–400 mcgHuman data: 2 small reports, no placebo
- Injectable vial (Western vendors)
- What it is: 20 mg vial of powder, sold as a “research” chemicalRoute: Subcutaneous injectionWebsite schedules: Most often 1–2 mg once daily for 10–20 daysPer-injection amounts: 10 mcg to 20 mg across websitesHuman data: NoneWatch for: Some vendor and reference pages give a different chain (Ala-Glu, Ala-Glu-Asp, Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro)
- Not the same thing: CardioGen-82
- What it is: A hospital generator of radioactive rubidium-82Use: Given into a vein for PET heart scans of blood flowRelation to the peptide: None; only the name is shared
- Amounts compared
- Capsule label 100–400 mcg a day; most common injectable pattern 1–2 mg a day; injection websites range from 10 mcg to 20 mg per injection. No amount has been tested for effect or safety by injection.
The capsule and the vials share a name, not a dose.
Typical Cardiogen Protocols
| Example | Amount each time | Frequency | Total per day | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low | 1 capsule (100 mcg) | Once daily | 100 mcg | 1 month, repeated after 4–6 months Lower end of the label range [3] |
| Mid | 1 capsule (100 mcg) | Twice daily | 200 mcg | 20–30 days, repeated after 3–6 months Prevention schedule for older adults in the 2007 report [5] |
| High | 2 capsules (200 mcg) | Twice daily | 400 mcg | 20 days Upper end of the schedule used in the 2007 angina report; also the top of the label range [5] |
The most common capsule protocol in the reviewed sources is 1–2 capsules, 1–2 times a day with food (100–400 mcg a day), for about a month, repeated after 4–6 months. Russian and Kazakh pharmacy and seller pages repeat the same label wording, so it is one source copied many times rather than several independent opinions. [3], [11], [12], [13]
- Titration Changing the amount in steps
- The label does not step the amount up or down. It gives a range and leaves the capsule count within it open. [3]
Read the units: mcg means micrograms; 1 mg equals 1,000 mcg. The capsule weighs 0.2 g (200 mg), but only 100 mcg of that is the declared peptide complex; the rest is filler. Heavier 0.275 g capsules and tablets are also listed, and the pages we could read do not state their peptide content. [3], [4]
Each row is a complete schedule from one source, so its amount and duration belong together. Low, mid and high are alternatives, not steps to move through. These capsule schedules come from the product label and small human reports without a placebo; the cited references give the full details.
What about injectable vials?
| Example | Amount each time | Frequency | Total per day | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low | 200 mcg, rising to 500 mcg | Once daily | 200–500 mcg | 12 weeks Stepped up by about 100 mcg every two weeks [14] |
| Mid | 1 mg (1,000 mcg) | Once daily | 1 mg | 10–20 days Called the “standard protocol” by its source [6] |
| High | 2 mg (2,000 mcg) | Once daily | 2 mg | 10–20 days Called the “high dose protocol” by its source [6] |
The most common injectable pattern in the reviewed sources is 1–2 mg once a day by subcutaneous injection for 10–20 days. One site gives a 10-day course, repeated two or three times a year. Other pages range from 10 mcg to 20 mg per injection, a 2,000-fold spread. [6], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20]
No study has given Cardiogen to people by injection, so none of these amounts has been tested for effect or safety. The usual 1–2 mg a day is 2.5 to 20 times the capsule label's 100–400 mcg. [21], [3]
In community education groups, educators mostly describe 1–2 mg a day by subcutaneous injection for 10–20 days, two or three courses a year, from 20 mg vials. One educator also teaches a 16-week build-up from 200 to 500 mcg a day without citing a source, and another declines to give injectable amounts at all and points to the capsule label instead.
Where protocols differ: products, per-day versus per-course amounts, course length and units ↓
Where these numbers come from
The capsule rows come from the manufacturer-approved supplement instruction (reference [3]; approved in 2012 and reproduced by a Russian medicines directory) and the 2007 angina report hosted by a Russian seller (reference [5]). The low row is the bottom of the label's own range. The mid row is the report's recommended schedule for older adults; the high row is the top of the “1–2 capsules twice daily for 20 days” schedule its patients took. The 100 mcg per capsule figure appears in both. Pharmacy and seller pages that copy the label count once. [11], [12], [13], [22]
The injection rows come from two protocol websites that each publish a complete schedule: reference [14] for the low row (its step-up table runs from 200 mcg in weeks 1–2 to 500 mcg in weeks 6–12) and reference [6] for the mid and high rows. References [15], [17], [16] and [18] cross-check the recurring 1–2 mg, 10–20-day pattern; reference [16] adds the two or three courses a year. The 29 dosing pages compared fall into nine number patterns, not nine independent origins.
Excluded from the typical comparison: “10–20 mg” pages, which disagree about whether that amount is per day or per course; 10–20 mg injections every 3–7 days; a 10–20 mcg page; an unsourced “Russian clinical” 10 mg intramuscular course; and pages giving 10–20 mg or 20 mg capsules, which conflict with the manufacturer's 100 mcg by 100 to 200 times. [23], [24], [25], [19], [26], [27]
What is Cardiogen commonly used for?
People usually look into Cardiogen because of a worry about their heart: a family history of heart disease, chest pain on exertion, rising blood pressure, or a past heart attack or stent. Some athletes hope for better endurance. [28], [29]
The capsule label describes it as a supplement that improves the working of the heart and blood vessels, filed under chronic ischemic heart disease (heart disease caused by narrowed arteries). The accounts below describe that interest; they do not establish that Cardiogen treats any heart condition. [3]
Chest pain and coronary artery disease
This is where the only human research sits. A 2007 Russian report enrolled adults with stable angina (chest pain that comes on with effort because the heart muscle is short of blood), who took capsules alongside their usual heart medicines, and a 2012 note from Kazakhstan added 12 older heart patients. Neither had a placebo group. What the human reports show. [5], [30]
Blood pressure
Lower blood pressure is one of the benefits people report most often, sometimes within days, and sellers make the same claim. Neither human report published blood-pressure results for Cardiogen alone, and educators disagree about whether it lowers blood pressure at all. [31], [6], [5], [30]
Recovery after a heart attack
This claim traces back to rat experiments in the developer's patent, in which fewer rats died in the first 24 hours after a heart artery was tied off. The patent is the inventors' own data, not a peer-reviewed study, and no one has tested this in people. What the rat experiments found. [1], [32], [6]
Heart rhythm problems
Some people try it for atrial fibrillation (an irregular, often fast heartbeat) or extra heartbeats. The patent includes a rat model of chemically triggered rhythm problems. Public accounts are mixed: one person first noticed fewer episodes, then reported that they persisted. [1], [33]
Other uses you may come across
Claims that Cardiogen “repairs” heart muscle, reverses scarring, prevents heart attacks or boosts endurance go far beyond the evidence, which comes from tissue in a dish, cells, test tubes and rats. [20], [28], [34], [35], [1]
Where do Cardiogen protocols differ?
The capsule label is easy to summarize. The disagreements start when a page mixes up the products, the units or the course length.
Capsule or vial: which product is the number for?
Always check this first. Capsules declare 100 mcg each; vials hold 20 mg (20,000 mcg). The label's top daily amount, 400 mcg, is 2.5 to 5 times lower than the usual 1–2 mg injected. Several English pages give 10–20 mg or 20 mg capsules, 100 to 200 times what the manufacturer declares, probably confusing the vial with the capsule. [3], [24], [36], [27]
Is “10–20 mg” a daily amount or a whole course?
Pages disagree. One gives 10–20 mg per course; others give 10–20 mg per day, ten times the usual daily amount. Since 1–2 mg a day for 10 days adds up to exactly 10–20 mg, a course total may have been misread as a daily dose somewhere along the way; we could not confirm that. [23], [20], [24], [37]
Is the number for one dose or the whole day?
Two capsules twice a day is 400 mcg for the day. The label's “1–2 capsules, 1–2 times a day” covers 100 to 400 mcg a day. One English page calls “1–2 capsules daily” 200–400 mcg, which would need 200 mcg capsules. [3], [38]
Short courses, long courses or large weekly injections?
Three patterns appear, and they are not versions of one protocol:
- Short courses: 1–2 mg a day for 10–20 days; one site repeats a 10-day course two or three times a year. [6], [16]
- Long, low courses: 200–500 mcg a day, stepped up over about 12 weeks. [14]
- Large, spaced injections: 10–20 mg every 3–7 days, or 5–20 mg three times a week, for a few weeks. These are the largest amounts in the reviewed sources, and nothing links them to a study. [39], [40], [25], [41]
No one has compared course lengths, so none has been shown to work better.
Do sources start low and step up?
A few do: one page adds about 100 mcg every two weeks, from 200 to 500 mcg; another climbs from 1 mg to 3–4 mg a day by week three. Most pages, and the label, use one fixed amount. [14], [39], [3]
Morning, bedtime, or with food?
The label says with meals; one website says on an empty stomach. One injection page says mornings, while bedtime dosing is popular in discussions. No study has tested timing. [3], [16], [6], [33]
Are bigger amounts more effective?
Nothing shows that, and the developer's own lab work points the other way: in isolated animal hearts, ten times more Cardiogen made recovery worse than none. See the heart experiment. [1]
What about kits and stacks?
A combination schedule is not a Cardiogen-only protocol. A Kazakh seller's “Free Breathing” capsule kit pairs two packs of Bronchogen with one of Cardiogen: 2 capsules of each twice daily with food in month one, then Cardiogen at 1 capsule twice daily in month two, twice a year. Online, Cardiogen also appears in “Khavinson stacks” with Vesugen and Bronchogen and in “cardiac stacks”. None of these combinations has been tested. [42], [43], [41] See the Doserly Bronchogen guide.
How do milligrams convert to syringe units?
Injection pages often give amounts as “units” on a U-100 insulin syringe, which holds 100 units per millilitre. Units measure volume, so how much Cardiogen each unit holds depends on how much water went into the vial.
For example, a 20 mg vial mixed with 2 mL of water holds 10 mg per mL, so 1 mg is 0.1 mL, or 10 units. Mixed with 3 mL, 200 mcg is about 3 units. Mistakes are easy: one page's table lists doses of 3–7.5 units while its own note says each dose reads 30 units or more. Doserly's reconstitution calculator works this out for any vial and shows each step. [6], [14]
Source-by-source comparison
Capsules
Unit key: 1 milligram (mg) = 1,000 micrograms (mcg). A 0.2 g capsule weighs 200 mg but declares 100 mcg of peptide complex.
The RLS directory reproduces the manufacturer-approved instruction: 1–2 capsules 1–2 times a day with food for one month, with a repeat course advised after 4–6 months; side effects are listed as “not identified”. The ASNA pharmacy listing gives a 20–30-day course. Physio-Med's summary says 1–2 capsules a day for about 25 days and later 1–2 capsules 1–2 times a day. PeptideBio.ru repeats the label. Peptidi.kz says the capsules may be given from age 12, up to four a day, which goes beyond the adult-only label. [3], [12], [13], [11], [22]
The 2007 report hosted by PeptideBio recommends 1–2 capsules twice daily for 20 days in heart disease and after a heart attack, 1 capsule twice daily for 20–30 days for prevention in older adults, and a repeat after 3–6 months. Its conclusion also recommends preventive 10-day courses of 1–2 tablets twice daily, 2–3 times a year. [5]
PeptideInsight lists “1–2 capsules daily (200–400 mcg)”. Kalios lists 200–400 mcg 1–2 times daily for the capsules and, elsewhere, 5–10 mg a day by mouth. Peptides.wiki suggests 2 capsules a day on an empty stomach. Peptide Database and PeptideHub give 10–20 mg oral capsules daily for 10–20 days; BodyHackGuide gives 20 mg by mouth once daily for 10 days. [38], [44], [16], [24], [36], [27]
Injections
Peptides.ID gives 1 mg (standard) or 2 mg (high dose) once daily in the morning for 10–20 days. Peptides.wiki gives 1–2 mg a day for 10 days, 2–3 times a year. The Peptide Catalog gives about 0.2–2 mg a day for 10–20 days and calls it community-reported with no trial dose. CalcMyPeptide's quick stats say 1–2 mg by subcutaneous injection, while its “Khavinson protocol” section says 10–20 mg. Clav Peptides shows 0.5 and 1 mg volume examples and 10–20-day courses. [6], [16], [15], [17], [18]
Dosage Peptide gives 200–500 mcg once daily over a 12-week course (8–12 weeks, sometimes 16), stepping from 200 to 500 mcg. Peptigraph gives 200–500 mcg a day for 4–6 weeks. Peptide Mind gives 350 mcg daily for ten weeks in one section and 10–20 mg daily for 10–20 days in its FAQ. [14], [45], [20]
PeptidesDB gives 10–20 mg per course. Peptide Database's calculator page lists 10 mg daily for 10 days. Tony Huge describes 1 mg a day rising to 3–4 mg, and separately 10–20 mg every 3–7 days for 2–4 weeks. Evipedia and Pep-Pedia describe 10 mg every 3–7 days, and Biomogging 5–20 mg three times a week. A South African vendor lists 10 mg a day, or 10 mg every other day, for weeks to months. Fit Science gives 100–200 mcg a day by injection. The Peptide Volt gives 10–20 mcg a day. Know Your Peptide calls 10 mg a day into a muscle for 10 days a “Russian clinical protocol” without naming a source. [23], [37], [39], [40], [25], [41], [46], [28], [19], [26]
Citation problems
Several pages cite rat, cell or test-tube studies next to human dose numbers; none of those studies tested a human dose. Two pages cite PubMed numbers that lead to unrelated papers (an anesthesia case report and an antibody study). Some list a molecular weight of 460, which does not match the 489.5 of AEDR, and one page's research feed mixes in the CardioGen-82 heart-scan agent. [17], [26], [24], [19]
What happens when you stop Cardiogen?
This has not been studied. Neither human report checked on people after their 20-day course ended, so nobody knows how long any change lasted, or whether stopping causes withdrawal effects or a rebound in chest pain, blood pressure or heart rate. The 2007 report says no side effects, complications or drug dependence were seen during treatment, and the 2012 note assessed people two weeks into the course. [5], [30]
- Repeat courses. The capsule label suggests another course after 4–6 months, and the 2007 report one after 3–6 months “when indicated”. Neither explains the interval, and no study has measured how long any effect lasts. [3], [5]
- Animal studies. The developer's rat and guinea-pig experiments did not include a period off treatment to see what happened after it stopped. [1]
- Personal accounts. Public posts give no clear picture. One person with long-standing angina, who took a month-long course and then three months off, reported short angina episodes only a few times a month after two courses. Another, who stopped after finishing a vial, later wrote that their extra heartbeats were still happening. Neither shared readings from before and after stopping. [33] Read the accounts.
Do capsules and injections of Cardiogen behave the same way?
No one has measured this, in people or in animals. An oral capsule must survive digestion and cross the gut wall; a subcutaneous injection is absorbed from the fatty layer under the skin. A matching amount would not mean a matching exposure, and here the amounts do not even match.
Bioavailability, how much of a dose reaches the blood, is unknown for every route. A 2023 computer model from the developer's group predicted that AEDR could fit gut transporters for small peptides; that is a prediction, not a measured absorption. The patent's animal work used injections and isolated hearts, and sublingual use (dissolved under the tongue), mentioned on some pages, has never been studied. [47], [1], [28]
How long does Cardiogen last in the body?
Nobody knows. No study has measured its half-life in any species, or how quickly it breaks down in blood or in the gut. Website figures range from 30–75 seconds to 6–8 hours, and none of them cites a measurement. [6], [17], [26], [28]
Does it go straight to the heart?
That has not been shown. A 2022 review by the developer's group says AEDR was found in a peptide mixture from heart tissue, without citing the measurement. In dishes, the effects were not heart-specific: Cardiogen also changed prostate and connective-tissue cells, and 7 of 20 ordinary amino acids also stimulated young rat heart tissue. [32], [35], [48], [49]
How should Cardiogen be stored, and how long does it last?
It depends on the product. The capsules come with the manufacturer's storage instructions; for injectable vials, nobody has published a stability test.
- Capsules. The label says to keep them in a dry place, protected from light, at 2–25 °C (36–77 °F) and out of children's reach, with a shelf life of five years. [3], [4]
- Vial powder, before mixing. Protocol pages disagree. Most say to keep the freeze-dried powder in a freezer at −20 °C (−4 °F); others say a refrigerator at 2–8 °C (36–46 °F), away from light. One claims it keeps for more than 36 months frozen, without citing a stability test. [6], [14], [19], [26], [23]
- After mixing. Once the powder is mixed with liquid (reconstituted), the pages say to keep it refrigerated at 2–8 °C, but their “use within” times range from 24 hours to about 30 days. [26], [23], [39], [15], [14], [19]
We found no published stability study of Cardiogen: the capsules' five-year shelf life is the manufacturer's statement, and the vial times are website claims. Health Canada warns that unauthorized injectable peptides may be improperly made or stored and may contain too much, too little or none of the active ingredient, so cold storage cannot tell you what is in a vial (see product quality). [59]
What do we actually know about Cardiogen in people?
Two small human reports exist, both on the oral capsules, one from the developer's own institute. Neither used a placebo or hid who got the capsules, and nothing has been tested with the purified peptide or by injection. ClinicalTrials.gov has no Cardiogen peptide study; its “Cardiogen” results are unrelated, including a genistein heart-failure trial with that acronym and a study of CardioGen-82 heart scans. [5], [30], [21], [50]
What did the human reports find?
| Report | What researchers reported | What it cannot establish |
|---|---|---|
| Stable angina, 2007 institute report | 42 adults aged 44–76 with effort-related chest pain: 27 took 1–2 capsules twice daily with meals for 20 days plus usual heart medicines; 15 had usual medicines only. The capsule group reported fewer symptoms, 53% halved their long-acting nitrate dose, and chest pain came on at peak exercise in 35% versus 43% of controls (65% before treatment), a difference the report calls significant. Ejection fraction rose in both groups, with no significant difference between them. | Whether Cardiogen caused the changes. Groups were not described as randomized, there was no placebo, and we found no journal publication; the report is hosted by a Cardiogen seller. [5] |
| Older adults, 2012 hospital note (Kazakhstan) | 32 patients averaging 76 years: 12 heart patients (coronary disease, high blood pressure or heart failure) took 1 Cardiogen capsule twice daily for 20 days, and 5 lung patients took Bronchogen; 15 had standard care only. 89% of the peptide group felt better at one week versus 67% of controls; test results improved at two weeks in 95% versus 73%. | Anything specific to Cardiogen: results were pooled with Bronchogen, with no statistics. [30] |
Both state that no side effects or complications were seen, but neither says how side effects were looked for. Neither reports blood pressure results for Cardiogen alone. [5], [30]
What do those heart tests measure?
Ejection fraction is the share of blood the heart's main pumping chamber pushes out with each beat, measured by ultrasound. An exercise-bike test shows how much effort brings on chest pain or changes on the heart tracing (ECG), and needing fewer nitrate tablets usually means fewer attacks.
In a 20-day study without a placebo, all of these can shift with practice, a stable spell, closer attention and the other medicines everyone took. In the 2007 report, blood potassium and calcium also rose toward normal in both groups. A convincing study would randomly assign people to Cardiogen or an identical dummy capsule, follow outcomes such as heart attacks and hospital stays for months or years, and record side effects systematically. Neither report did, and nothing has tested the injectable vials. [5]
How might Cardiogen work?
The developers' idea is that very short peptides act as tissue-specific signals that help switch genes on or off in the cells of their target organ. The experiments below test pieces of that idea. They are preclinical (in tissue, cells, test tubes and rats), and almost all come from one research network.
What happens in heart tissue grown in a dish?
Researchers kept small pieces of rat heart muscle alive in a dish (an explant culture). A vanishingly small amount of Cardiogen increased their growth in tissue from young and old rats and reduced staining for p53, a cell-stress protein, but 7 of 20 ordinary amino acids also stimulated young-rat tissue. A related study reported similar growth effects for Cardiogen and three sister peptides in their matching tissues. Tissue in a dish has no blood supply or pumping load, so this is a long way from a healthier heart. [35], [51]
What happens in other cells?
In mouse connective-tissue cells (embryonic fibroblasts), Cardiogen raised the cell's scaffolding proteins, such as actin and tubulin, two to five times. In aging human prostate cells, it and two other peptides raised several signaling genes. Neither experiment used heart cells. [49], [48]
Does it really bind DNA?
In test tubes, AEDR interacted with DNA, with histones (the proteins DNA is wound around, here from wheat) and with DNA-cutting enzymes from wheat seedlings, and computer models predicted a DNA docking site. None of this showed Cardiogen reaching DNA inside a living heart cell. [52], [53], [54], [55]
What did the rat heart experiments find?
The strongest results are in the developer's patent. After a main artery of the rats' hearts was tied off to cause a heart attack, 9 of 20 untreated rats died within 24 hours, compared with 3 of 20 given three tiny injections of Cardiogen into the abdominal cavity (45% versus 15%), and the area of dead heart muscle was somewhat smaller. Other examples describe fewer deaths and less ventricular fibrillation in a chemically triggered rhythm model and less damage after adrenaline or chemical poisoning. [1]
These are the inventors' own data, not a peer-reviewed paper, and no independent team has repeated them. A 2022 review calls the result a “threefold decrease in mortality” but cites only the patent. [1], [32]
Do bigger amounts work better?
In the same patent, isolated guinea-pig hearts were kept pumping with a nutrient liquid, stopped for 30 minutes to mimic a heart attack (ischemia), then restarted. Half an hour later, untreated hearts beat at 75% of their starting strength. With 0.005 mcg of Cardiogen per mL they reached 93%; with 0.05 mcg per mL, only 32%. Rat hearts followed the same pattern. [1]
More was not better in isolated hearts
Animal hearts in the lab (developer's patent). Concentrations in a perfused heart are not human doses.
- No peptide
- 75% of starting strength (±8).
- 0.002 mcg/mL
- 81% (±16).
- 0.005 mcg/mL
- 93% (±5)*.
- 0.01 mcg/mL
- 64% (±3)*.
- 0.05 mcg/mL
- 32% (±9)*.
* Differs from no peptide (p < 0.01, as reported in the patent). ± values: spread as reported in the patent (type not stated). 6 hearts per group. The vertical line marks the untreated 75% result.
Rat hearts (groups of 8, 10 minutes of reperfusion, Table 3): 43% untreated, 75% at 0.005 mcg/mL, 36% at 0.05 mcg/mL.
A small amount helped; ten times more made recovery worse than no peptide.
The patent describes a benefit only at the smallest concentrations. These liquid concentrations cannot be converted into human doses, but even in the developer's hands, more Cardiogen did not mean more benefit. [1]
What are the risks and unanswered questions?
Is Cardiogen safe?
Its safety in people has not been established. The two capsule reports and the label say no side effects were seen, but neither report said how side effects were collected, both lasted 20 days, and there are no human data at all for injected Cardiogen. [5], [30], [3]
The patent's toxicity tests in mice, rats (daily for 90 days) and guinea pigs (daily for six months) reported no toxic reactions, but the guinea pigs had more white blood cells at three and six months. These are the inventors' data, and the meaning of that change is unclear. [1]
What problems have actually been reported?
Very few, and none formally. One person on 2 mg a day reported a raised resting heart rate overnight from the first night and stopped after 12 days; they were also taking growth hormone and another peptide, SS-31. Another described unsettling blood-pressure swings. [31], [33]
Community education groups reviewed for this guide contained no first-hand reports of side effects, but first-hand reports of any kind were few and many people never posted an outcome. We found no case reports or regulator warnings specific to Cardiogen.
Does Cardiogen cause cancer, or fight it?
Nobody knows, but there is one warning sign. In a 2011 dissertation from the developer's institute, 80 old mice with an implanted lung tumor received ten injections of Cardiogen. At 2 mcg per mouse, tumor growth did not change significantly and the mice lived slightly longer (24 versus 21 days). At 100 mcg per mouse, tumors grew significantly more than in untreated mice (353 versus 275 cubic millimetres; the author reports a 33.5% increase) and showed more new blood-vessel growth (angiogenesis). [56]
This is one experiment in old mice, reported in a dissertation summary, and mouse doses cannot be converted to human ones. It still matters: it is the only Cardiogen tumor test we could read in full, and the higher dose went the wrong way. An earlier abstract by the same author reported that Cardiogen slowed a sarcoma (a connective-tissue tumor) in old rats, but his dissertation assigns that work to a different peptide, T-32. “Anti-cancer” claims are not supported, and there are no standard long-term cancer studies. [56], [57]
Could product quality change the risk?
Yes. The vials are sold as unregulated research chemicals, and several vendors and reference sites give Cardiogen a different chain: two amino acids (Ala-Glu), three (Ala-Glu-Asp) or a different fourth amino acid (Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro). A vial is only as good as its contents, and no independent testing of Cardiogen vials has been published that we could find. Injecting any unapproved product adds risks of infection, contamination and allergic reaction. [10], [58], [9], [59]
Is Cardiogen legal? Is it FDA-approved?
Checked September 23, 2026. Rules differ by country and change quickly. A “research use only” label does not make a product legal to sell or safe to use.
United States. Cardiogen is not an FDA-approved medicine: FDA's database of approved drugs lists only CardioGen-82 under that name. [60] It does not appear on FDA's lists of bulk substances that pharmacies may or may not use for compounding, or on its list of substances that may present significant safety risks (which does name Epitalon, a related peptide). Absence from those lists is not permission to compound it and not an FDA safety judgment. [61]
Canada. Health Canada has not named Cardiogen in its peptide advisories. Its April 2026 warning says injectable peptides sold online as “For Research Use Only – Not for Human Consumption” are unauthorized, and that such labelling “does not make these products legal or exempt from regulatory requirements.” An August 2025 advisory about seized peptides listed Bronchogen, a sister peptide, but not Cardiogen. [59], [62]
Australia. Cardiogen is not approved in Australia. Searches of the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods found no entry, and it is not named in the June 2026 Poisons Standard. The TGA's May 2026 warning on imported peptides says personal importation of unapproved peptides is permitted only if the goods are clearly and accurately labelled. [63], [64], [65]
United Kingdom. A search of UK government sites, which include the medicines regulator (MHRA), found no record for the Cardiogen peptide; the only UK authorization we found under that name, on a 2023 MHRA list, is for the CardioGen-82 heart-scan agent. [66], [67]
Russia. The capsules are sold as a dietary supplement (a biologically active food additive), not as a registered medicine. [3], [4]
Is Cardiogen banned in sport? Does it show up on a drug test?
Cardiogen is not named on the World Anti-Doping Agency's 2026 list or on the 2027 list that takes effect on January 1, 2027. Category S0 bans at all times any pharmacological substance that no other section of the list covers and that has “no current approval by any governmental regulatory health authority for human therapeutic use”, and the 2027 list names “peptides” among its examples. WADA has not ruled on Cardiogen specifically, and a Russian supplement registration is not a medicine approval, so tested athletes should assume S0 can apply. [68], [69]
No published anti-doping test for Cardiogen was found, and how long it could be detected is unknown.
Who should be especially cautious?
These groups have no safety data in people. That is a reason for caution, not proof of harm.
- Pregnancy and breastfeeding. The capsule label lists both as reasons not to use it and advises checking with a doctor first. [3]
- A history of cancer. Because of the mouse tumor-growth result above. [56]
- Low blood pressure, or blood-pressure medicines. Many users believe it lowers blood pressure. That has not been measured, but people who already run low, or take blood-pressure medicines, have more reason to watch their readings.
- Existing heart disease. Coronary disease, a recent heart attack or stent, heart failure, rhythm problems and aortic disease need cardiology care. Cardiogen has been tried in only a few dozen people with stable heart disease, always alongside standard medicines. [5], [30]
- Children and teenagers. The label is for adults, though one seller says from age 12, and no study included anyone under 44. This guide is written for adults. [3], [22], [5]
- Competitive athletes. See the anti-doping section above.
- People taking other medicines. Interactions have not been studied; see the next question.
Has Cardiogen been tested alongside other medicines?
Not in any way that answers the question. In the 2007 report, everyone kept taking usual heart medicines, including long-acting nitrates and beta-blockers, but the report was not designed to look for interactions. Nothing is known about combining Cardiogen with blood thinners, statins, blood-pressure or rhythm medicines, GLP-1 medicines or other peptides. Bring a complete list of everything you take to a pharmacist or doctor. [5]
It is not a substitute for any of them: those medicines have been tested in large trials for outcomes like heart attacks and strokes, and Cardiogen has not.
What should be monitored while using Cardiogen?
No regulator has written a monitoring plan for Cardiogen. The capsule label advises talking to a doctor before use, and the injectable vials are sold for laboratory research, with no approved label or monitoring plan. What exists is a record of what the two small human reports and the patent's animal safety tests checked. It can help you prepare questions for a clinician; it is not a personal testing plan. [3]
What did the human reports check?
- Symptoms and angina. The 2007 report recorded complaints such as chest pain, breathlessness, weakness and a racing heart, how often angina attacks came and the daily dose of long-acting nitrates people needed. [5]
- Heart tests. It also repeated a heart tracing (ECG), a heart ultrasound (for ejection fraction) and a step-by-step exercise-bike test. The 2012 note checked ECGs, blood pressure and blood chemistry at the start and after two weeks, but reported only a pooled improvement across Cardiogen and Bronchogen users. [5], [30]
- Blood tests. The 2007 report ran routine blood counts and blood chemistry but published results only for potassium, calcium and magnesium, which moved the same way in both groups. [5]
- Not reported. Neither report published blood-pressure, resting heart-rate or cholesterol results for Cardiogen alone. The 2007 report says no side effects were seen and the 2012 note no complications, and neither says how they were looked for. [5], [30]
What did the animal safety tests check?
The patent's toxicity tests (mice once, rats daily for 90 days, guinea pigs daily for six months) checked the animals' general condition, blood counts, blood chemistry and clotting, the state of the heart, lungs, liver and kidneys, and their organs under a microscope. The inventors reported no harmful changes except more white blood cells (leukocytes) in guinea pigs. The patent's blood table, for the lowest dose, shows 11.2 versus 9.4 billion per litre in untreated animals at three months and 11.9 versus 9.6 at six months. What that rise means is unclear. [1]
Which measures matter, and why?
| Why it matters | What studies measured or reported | Tracking category |
|---|---|---|
| Chest pain and exercise tolerance, the main reasons people try it | Angina attacks, nitrate use and exercise-bike tests in the 2007 report [5] | Pain Management; Physical Performance |
| Blood pressure, a benefit people often report | Not reported for Cardiogen alone in either human report; public accounts describe drops and swings without readings [5], [30], [31], [33] | Blood Pressure |
| Heart rate and rhythm | ECGs in both human reports; one public account of a raised overnight resting heart rate [5], [30], [31] | Heart Rate & Palpitations; Heart Health |
| White blood cells | Rose in guinea pigs at three and six months; the human reports published no blood counts [1], [5] | Blood work |
| Tumor growth | Implanted lung tumors grew faster in old mice at the higher of two doses; no long-term cancer study exists [56] | Not trackable at home; relevant to anyone with a cancer history |
| Injection problems | Health Canada warns that unauthorized injectable peptides can cause infections and allergic reactions [59] | Side Effect Burden |
| Other changes in your routine | New heart medicines, weight loss, training or other peptides can explain a change [74] | Treatment Adherence |
Health Canada advises anyone who has used an unauthorized injectable peptide and feels unwell or has concerns to contact a healthcare professional, such as a doctor, nurse practitioner or pharmacist, and to report side effects. [59]
If you keep your own readings, taking them the same way each time makes changes easier to compare. How to judge a heart story.
What do people in public communities report?
Public accounts are few. Most come from Reddit users injecting vials, almost always alongside other peptides, prescription medicines or big changes in weight or training; we found very few from people taking the Russian capsules. [31], [33], [70]
What do the positive reports look like?
One person with years of near-daily angina and a heart-conduction problem (left bundle branch block) worked up to 3 mg a night over two month-long courses. Afterward, angina came only a few times a month, but the conduction problem was unchanged. No diary, ECG or scan was shared. [33]
Another, with months of chest pain, said the constant pain was gone two days into a 20-day course and had not returned a month later, while a heart work-up was still pending. Chest pain can signal a heart attack and needs medical assessment first. [29]
Others were briefer: heart rate and blood pressure “went down”, without numbers, or retatrutide, Cardiogen and TB-500 together “practically fixed” heart scarring, without a scan. [31], [34]
How long did those changes last?
Follow-ups are often more telling. One person with rhythm problems first reported fewer episodes after about nine days on 1–2 mg a day, then wrote months later that the episodes continued and they could not tell whether Cardiogen had helped. These accounts cannot give an average time to benefit, and the people posting are not a representative sample. [33]
Does everyone notice a difference?
No. One person took 2 mg a day for a few weeks together with Bronchogen and noticed nothing. Another, in the third week of a course alongside two other bioregulators, said they could not feel any effect from Cardiogen. A person with two past heart attacks, partway through a 10-day course, wrote that they had “no clue” whether it was doing anything. An athlete felt better during interval training but saw little change in resting heart rate after a month. [71], [72], [73], [29]
What about unwanted effects?
Two public accounts described problems, a raised overnight heart rate and unsettling blood-pressure swings, both without readings and alongside other compounds. See reported problems. [31], [33]
What do community education groups teach?
Educators in community education groups describe Cardiogen as a slow, preventive heart bioregulator that users should not expect to feel working, usually taken as 1–2 mg a day by injection for 10–20 days, two or three times a year. Some recommend baseline and follow-up tests such as blood pressure, heart-rate variability (HRV) or cholesterol and inflammation markers, but members rarely report them. Members' experiences follow the public pattern: a few blood-pressure drops within days or HRV rises on a wrist wearable, several people who noticed nothing, many who never reported back, and nearly everyone taking other peptides.
Educators disagree on the main question: one says plainly that Cardiogen does not lower blood pressure, while a lesson elsewhere repeats the manufacturer's claim that it does. Some lessons wrongly call it a three-amino-acid peptide or a heart-tissue extract. Some advice went well beyond any evidence, including using it for coronary disease in place of statins, after stents or for aneurysms; calling bioregulators harmless for someone with a cancer history, with no mention of the mouse tumor result; and an uncorrected claim that ambulances somewhere carry Cardiogen for cardiac arrest, which probably confuses it with CardioGen-82.
How can you judge a heart story?
Ask: Was blood pressure measured with the same cuff, at the same time of day, several times? Did anything else change: medicines, weight (GLP-1 medicines lower both weight and blood pressure), training, sleep, other peptides? Was a scan or ECG repeated? What happened months later?
One account shows why: a person with atrial fibrillation reported better blood pressure while losing more than 60 pounds on retatrutide and changing diet, medicines and supplements, and did not credit Cardiogen with a measurable change. Another listed Cardiogen as one of about ten compounds in a weight-loss stack. These selected discussions are not a survey of all users or a substitute for controlled studies. [74], [43]
How does Cardiogen compare with Bronchogen, Epitalon and SS-31?
Cardiogen is often discussed alongside other short peptides from the same Russian program and alongside SS-31, another short peptide people consider for the heart. The table compares what each one is and how much human evidence exists.
| Compound | What it is | How it is taken | How often | Human evidence | Approval status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardiogen (this guide) | Four amino acids (Ala-Glu-Asp-Arg, AEDR) from a Russian research program, promoted for the heart [1] | Capsules by mouth; vials by subcutaneous injection, according to protocol websites [3], [6] | Capsules 1–2 times a day for a month; vial websites once daily for 10–20 days [3], [6] | Two small capsule reports without a placebo: 27 treated versus 15 on usual care in 2007, and a 2012 note that pooled its results with Bronchogen [5], [30] | Supplement in Russia; not an approved medicine [3], [60] |
| Bronchogen | Four amino acids (Ala-Glu-Asp-Leu, AEDL) from the same program, promoted for the airways [77] | Capsules by mouth [78] | 1–2 capsules 1–2 times a day for a month, repeated after 4–6 months [78] | Three small capsule reports without a placebo, the largest with 58 treated versus 20 on usual care [79], [80], [30] | Supplement in Russia; Health Canada lists injectable Bronchogen as unauthorized [78], [62] |
| Epitalon | Four amino acids (Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly, AEDG) from the same program; not the same as epithalamin, a pineal-gland extract [81] | Under the tongue or by injection beside the eye in the human studies; subcutaneous injection in the compounded products FDA reviewed [81] | Not established for injection [81] | Three small human studies, including one placebo-controlled study [81] | Not FDA-approved; in 2026 FDA proposed not adding it to the list of ingredients pharmacies may compound from [81], [61] |
| SS-31 (elamipretide) | A lab-made four-amino-acid peptide that targets mitochondria, the parts of cells that produce energy; not a bioregulator [82] | Subcutaneous injection [82] | 40 mg once daily on the US label, for people weighing at least 30 kg [82] | Placebo-controlled trials, including a 71-person heart-failure trial in which 28 days of daily injections did not improve the heart's size or pumping [83] | Accelerated approval by FDA in 2025 for muscle strength in Barth syndrome, a rare inherited disease; not approved for heart failure [84], [82] |
The real differences are in how much has been tested, not in proven results. Cardiogen, Bronchogen and Epitalon come from the same research group, differ only in their fourth amino acid, and have only small human studies. SS-31 is a different kind of molecule that has been tested in larger placebo-controlled trials, and in heart failure it did not improve the main heart measure. No human study has compared any of them with Cardiogen. Vesugen and Chelohart, which people often take with Cardiogen, have no Doserly guide yet (see the common questions).
Common questions about Cardiogen
Is Cardiogen a pill or an injection?
Both are sold, and they are different products. The original Russian Cardiogen is a capsule taken with food, declaring 100 mcg of peptide complex. Western vendors sell 20 mg vials of powder for injection. Only the capsule has a manufacturer's instruction leaflet and human reports; no study has tested the injection. [3], [5], [21] See the two protocol tables.
Is Cardiogen the same as CardioGen-82?
No. CardioGen-82 is a hospital imaging product that produces radioactive rubidium-82, given into a vein during a heart scan to show blood flow to the heart muscle. It is not a peptide, not a treatment and not used to restart a heart. [7], [21]
Is Cardiogen the same as Chelohart or Vesugen?
No. Chelohart is a mixture of peptides extracted from the heart tissue of young calves or pigs, declaring 10 mg of extract per capsule, not one lab-made chain. Vesugen is a different synthetic peptide (Lys-Glu-Asp, or KED) from the same program. People often combine them with Cardiogen, which makes their stories harder to read, and research on one does not count for another. [75], [76], [32], [70]
Does Cardiogen lower blood pressure?
That has not been shown. It is one of the benefits people report most often, and sellers claim it, but neither human report published blood-pressure results for Cardiogen alone, and educators disagree. The only way to see a personal change is to track readings the same way before, during and after. [5], [30], [31], [6] See how to judge a heart story.
Can Cardiogen repair the heart after a heart attack?
There is no human evidence that it can. The claim rests on the developer's patent, in which fewer rats died in the 24 hours after an induced heart attack (15% versus 45%). No one has tested whether it reduces scarring, improves pumping or prevents another heart attack in people. [1], [32] See the rat heart experiments.
Can Cardiogen replace statins, blood thinners or other heart medicines?
The reviewed evidence gives no reason to think so. In both human reports, Cardiogen was added to standard heart medicines, not used instead of them. Stopping a statin, a blood thinner after a stent or a rhythm medicine could be dangerous. [5], [30] See interactions and cautions.
How long does Cardiogen take to work?
There is no reliable answer. The human reports measured results after one to three weeks; public accounts range from two days to after a second course, and several people noticed nothing. Educators describe it as slow and not felt, which makes any timeline hard to test. [5], [30], [29], [33], [71] See what people reported over time.
Is it legal to buy Cardiogen?
It depends on the country and the product. The capsules are sold as a supplement in Russia. Cardiogen is not an FDA-approved medicine, and Health Canada warns that a research-use label does not make injectable peptides legal. A “research use only” label does not make a product legal or safe anywhere. See the dated legal-status summary. [3], [61], [59]
Glossary
Plain explanations of the route, dosing and research terms used in this guide. Underlined terms in the text link here.
- Accelerated approval
- An FDA pathway that approves a medicine early, based on a measure expected to predict benefit, on condition that later studies confirm the benefit.
- Adverse event
- A harmful or unwanted medical event reported after someone used a treatment. A report alone does not prove the treatment caused it.
- Amino acid
- A small chemical building block. Chains of amino acids make up peptides and proteins.
- Angina
- Chest pain or pressure that comes on when the heart muscle is short of blood, usually during effort, because the heart's arteries are narrowed.
- Angiogenesis
- The growth of new blood vessels from existing ones. It is a normal part of healing, and tumors also depend on it to grow.
- Animal study
- Research in animals such as rats or mice. It shows what a substance does in a living body, but results in people can differ.
- Bioavailability
- How much of a dose reaches the bloodstream in a usable form. It depends heavily on the route. For Cardiogen it has not been measured by any route.
- Bioregulator
- The name a Russian research group uses for very short peptides it believes act on particular tissues. It is a research and marketing label, not a regulatory category.
- Cell study (in vitro)
- Research on cells grown in a dish. It gives early clues about biology, but it is far from proof of benefit in people.
- Compounding
- When a pharmacy prepares a customized medicine from individual ingredients. In the US, federal lists control which bulk ingredients pharmacies may use.
- Controlled trial
- A study that compares people who receive a treatment with a similar group who do not, often receiving a placebo instead. Randomly assigning people to each group makes the comparison fairer.
- Course and cycle
- A course is the period of repeated use, such as 20 days. A cycle is a course plus a planned break before any further use.
- Daily total
- All the amounts given in one day, added together. For example, 2 capsules of 100 mcg twice daily is a 400 mcg daily total.
- Dietary supplement
- A product sold as a food additive rather than a medicine. In Russia these are registered with lighter requirements than medicines and do not have to prove they work.
- Dose (amount each time)
- The amount given on one occasion. A protocol lists both the dose and how often it is given.
- ECG (electrocardiogram)
- A recording of the heart's electrical activity from sensors on the skin. It can show rhythm problems and signs that heart muscle is short of blood.
- Ejection fraction
- The share of blood the heart's main pumping chamber pushes out with each beat, usually measured by an ultrasound scan. It is a common measure of how well the heart pumps.
- Explant culture
- A small piece of tissue taken from an animal and kept alive in a dish. It lets researchers see how tissue responds, without blood flow, nerves or the rest of the body.
- Half-life
- The time it takes for the measured level of a substance in the blood to fall by half. It is not the same as how long an effect lasts. It has not been measured for Cardiogen.
- Heart-rate variability (HRV)
- The small changes in time between heartbeats. Wearables estimate it, and it shifts with sleep, stress, illness and training, so a change has many possible causes.
- Investigational
- Still being studied and not approved by a regulator, such as the FDA, to treat any condition.
- Ischemia
- Too little blood flow to a tissue, so it runs short of oxygen. A heart attack is severe ischemia of part of the heart muscle.
- mcg and mg
- Micrograms and milligrams. 1 mg equals 1,000 mcg. Cardiogen capsules declare 100 mcg each; injection amounts are usually written in mg.
- Nitrates
- Heart medicines, such as nitroglycerin, that widen blood vessels to relieve or prevent angina. Long-acting forms are taken daily.
- Oral
- Taken by mouth, as a capsule, tablet or liquid.
- Peptide
- A short chain of amino acids. Cardiogen is a chain of four, called a tetrapeptide.
- Pharmacokinetics
- How the body absorbs, moves, breaks down and removes a substance. No such data exist for Cardiogen.
- Placebo
- A dummy treatment with no active ingredient, used as a comparison in studies.
- Preclinical research
- Studies done before research in people: cell studies, tissue cultures, test-tube experiments and animal studies.
- Reconstitution
- Mixing a freeze-dried powder with sterile liquid so it can be injected. How long the mixed liquid stays usable depends on the substance and has not been tested for Cardiogen.
- Research use only
- A label on products sold for laboratory research. It does not mean a product is approved, tested for human use or legal to sell as a medicine.
- Subcutaneous (SC)
- Injected into the fatty layer just under the skin. This is the route most injectable Cardiogen descriptions use.
- Sublingual
- Placed under the tongue to dissolve. It is not an injection, and no one has measured how much Cardiogen, if any, is absorbed this way.
- Syringe units
- Markings on an insulin syringe that measure volume. On a U-100 syringe, 100 units equal 1 mL. The amount of drug per unit depends on the vial's concentration.
- Titration
- Adjusting a dose in steps, usually starting lower and increasing if needed.
- WADA
- The World Anti-Doping Agency, which publishes the list of substances banned in sport.
Explore more of the research
Go deeper into the experiments behind the claims.
Across this guide, the citations include 11 original scientific papers on Cardiogen: one small human report in a journal and 10 preclinical papers on tissue cultures, cells, test-tube chemistry, computer models and rats. The developer's patent, a dissertation and an unpublished institute report are counted separately. The library below explores 10 of these papers, the patent and the dissertation, grouped by question. Paper counts are not counts of independent research teams: almost all come from one research network.
In the route details, intraperitoneal means into the abdominal cavity and intramuscular means into a muscle.
Heart tissue and cells in a dish · 4 papers
Does heart tissue grow faster with it?
Model: Small pieces of heart muscle from 3-month-old and 24-month-old rats kept alive in a dish (explant culture), compared with each of the 20 ordinary amino acids.
Finding: At an extremely low concentration (10⁻¹² M), Cardiogen increased explant growth in young and old tissue and reduced staining for p53, a cell-stress protein. Seven of the 20 amino acids also stimulated young tissue; two stimulated old tissue.
Limit: Tissue in a dish; lower p53 staining is not a measured reduction in cell death, and the sequence is not printed in the abstract.
Does each peptide act on its own organ?
Model: Heart, lung, prostate and pancreas explants from 3-week-old and 18-month-old rats.
Finding: At 0.05 nanograms per mL, Cardiogen and three sister peptides stimulated growth in their matching tissues.
Limit: Explant growth is not organ repair in a living animal; the abstract gives no group sizes.
Does it change connective-tissue cells?
Model: Mouse embryonic fibroblasts grown in a dish.
Finding: The named tetrapeptide H-Ala-Glu-Asp-Arg-OH raised actin, tubulin and vimentin 2–5 times and lamin A/C 2–3 times.
Limit: Not heart cells; the authors' link to heart protection is an inference.
Does it act on non-heart human cells?
Model: Aging cultures of human prostate fibroblasts.
Finding: Cardiogen and two other peptides raised CXCL12, WEDC1 and ghrelin expression; another peptide (T-38) was most active.
Limit: Human-derived cells in a dish are not human participants, and the effect was not heart-specific.
DNA, histones and computer models · 5 papers
Does it change DNA-cutting enzymes?
Model: Enzymes from wheat seedlings and short DNA pieces in a test tube.
Finding: Cardiogen (named as Ala-Glu-Asp-Arg) reduced one enzyme's cutting of one DNA piece without changing that DNA's fluorescence.
Limit: A plant enzyme in a tube; says nothing about human hearts.
Does it bind DNA directly?
Model: Labeled DNA pieces and whole DNA in a test tube; human cancer-derived cells for other peptides.
Finding: Cardiogen did not appear to bind single-stranded DNA pieces and interacted with some double-stranded DNA. The images of peptides entering cell nuclei were for three other peptides, not Cardiogen.
Limit: Binding in a tube is not gene control in a living cell.
Does it bind the proteins that package DNA?
Model: Fluorescently labeled histone proteins from wheat, in a test tube.
Finding: AEDR was one of six short peptides that interacted with wheat histones and histone–DNA complexes.
Limit: Plant proteins; no heart cells were involved.
Where would it dock on DNA?
Model: Computer docking models of 19 short peptides and DNA.
Finding: The model placed AEDR on an “agtc” DNA sequence.
Limit: A computer prediction, not an experiment.
Could gut transporters carry it into cells?
Model: Computer models of three transporter proteins (LAT1, LAT2, PEPT1) and 26 short peptides.
Finding: AEDR was among the peptides predicted to fit these transporters best.
Limit: A prediction; no absorption was measured.
Rat and mouse experiments · 1 paper, 1 patent, 1 dissertation
What happened after an induced heart attack?
Model: Rats whose main left heart artery was tied off; 20 per group.
Finding: Deaths within 24 hours: 9 of 20 untreated versus 3 of 20 given 0.05 mcg per rat into the abdominal cavity at 1, 3 and 5 hours. The area of dead heart muscle was somewhat smaller (for example 49.6% versus 56.2% of the ventricle at 24 hours).
Limit: Inventor data in a patent, not peer reviewed or independently repeated.
Did it affect rhythm problems and chemical heart damage?
Model: Rats given calcium chloride to trigger rhythm problems (60 rats, six groups), adrenaline overdose or a toxic chemical (thiram).
Finding: The patent reports fewer deaths and less ventricular fibrillation, best at 0.2 mcg/kg, and less damage in the other models.
Limit: Patent examples with limited methods; animal doses cannot be converted to human doses.
Did more peptide work better in isolated hearts?
Model: Isolated guinea-pig hearts (groups of 6) stopped for 30 minutes, and rat hearts (groups of 8) stopped for a period the patent does not state, then restarted.
Finding: In guinea-pig hearts, pumping strength after 30 minutes was 75% of baseline untreated, 93% at 0.005 mcg/mL and 32% at 0.05 mcg/mL. Rat hearts, 10 minutes after restarting: 43% untreated, 75% at 0.005 and 36% at 0.05 mcg/mL.
Limit: Concentrations in a perfused heart, not body doses; patent data.
What did the toxicity tests show?
Model: 66 mice (single injection into a muscle, 1–5 mg/kg), 60 rats (daily for 90 days) and 96 guinea pigs (daily for six months) at 1 mcg/kg, 0.1 mg/kg or 1 mg/kg.
Finding: The applicants report no toxic reactions; guinea pigs had higher white-cell counts at three and six months.
Limit: Applicant-interpreted results in a patent; not a standard regulatory toxicology package.
Did it change tumor growth in old mice?
Model: 80 old male mice (16–18 months) with implanted Lewis lung carcinoma; ten injections on days 8–17.
Finding: At 2 mcg per mouse, tumor growth did not change significantly and survival rose from 21 to 24 days. At 100 mcg per mouse, tumor growth increased (353 versus 275 mm³, stated as +33.5%) and new vessel growth was activated.
Limit: A dissertation summary, not a peer-reviewed paper; the table and text give slightly different percentages. The injection route is not stated in the passage read.
What about the rat sarcoma study?
Model: Old rats with a transplanted M-1 sarcoma (a connective-tissue tumor).
Finding: The abstract reports dose-dependent inhibition of tumor growth, with more dead and self-destructing tumor cells.
Limit: Doses and group sizes are not in the abstract, and the first author's later dissertation assigns the sarcoma-inhibition experiments to a different peptide, T-32.
How this guide was researched
This guide is built from a thorough review of the sources cited throughout it: published scientific studies, a patent and a dissertation, trial-registry searches, regulatory documents, product labels and published protocol descriptions. We also reviewed public online forums and community education groups where people describe their own experiences with Cardiogen.
The guide cites 84 sources, including 13 original scientific papers (2 of them on the related compounds in the comparison table). Each type of source answers a different question. Studies show what researchers measured. Protocol descriptions show how Cardiogen is typically used. Personal accounts show what individual people experienced. Every numbered citation links to its entry below, labeled by source type.
How this guide was made
Research and drafting were AI-assisted. Every cited source was checked against the original, and the guide was reviewed and edited by Doserly before publication. It has not had an independent clinical review, and Doserly does not currently have medical reviewers. Doserly makes a medication and health-tracking app and runs Doserly Academy, both of which are promoted in this guide. Read our editorial policy for how guides are researched, updated and corrected.
This guide is for educational purposes. It summarizes what the reviewed sources report so the research is easier to understand; it is not medical advice. For a deeper dive, or to check any point for yourself, go straight to the cited sources.
Explore the sources
These are the documents cited in this guide. Studies, product labels, website advice and personal accounts answer different questions. A source being listed does not mean every statement on its page is endorsed.
Showing 84 sources
- 01
Peptide substance restoring myocardium function (US7662789B2; same family as RU2255756C1 and WO2006001728) ↗
Patent (animal data)
Full text of the US patent reviewed.
Result detail: Gives the sequence Ala-Glu-Asp-Arg. Rat heart-attack model: 24-hour deaths 9 of 20 untreated versus 3 of 20 treated (0.05 mcg per rat into the abdominal cavity at 1, 3 and 5 hours). Isolated hearts: 0.005 mcg/mL helped recovery, 0.01–0.05 mcg/mL made it worse. Toxicity tests reported no toxic reactions but a rise in guinea-pig white blood cells. Inventor data, not peer reviewed.
- 02
H-Ala-Glu-Asp-Arg-OH (compound summary, CID 11583989) ↗
Chemical database
Record checked: C18H31N7O9, 489.5 g/mol. “Cardiogen” is not among this record's synonyms.
- 03
Кардиоген: инструкция по применению (Cardiogen: instructions for use) ↗
Product label
Page checked (Russian): 100 mcg peptide complex AKS-K per 0.2 g capsule; 1–2 capsules 1–2 times daily with food for 1 month; repeat after 4–6 months; contraindicated in pregnancy and breastfeeding.
- 04
Кардиоген®: общая информация (Cardiogen: general information) ↗
Supplement registration (directory)
Page checked: dietary supplement, 0.275 g capsules, peptide complex AKS-K; registration RU.77.99.32.003.Е.005043.03.15 listed as active. Official register not opened.
- 05
Препарат Кардиоген: клинические исследования (Cardiogen: clinical studies; report of a 2007 study at the St Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology medical center) ↗
Human report (unpublished)
Full text reviewed (Russian).
Limitation: 27 capsule versus 15 usual-care patients, not described as randomized, no placebo; ejection-fraction change did not differ significantly between groups; side-effect collection not described. No journal publication found.
- 06
Cardiogen Research, Dosing & Protocols ↗
Protocol source
Page checked; dosing table gives 1 mg (standard) and 2 mg (high dose) once daily for 10–20 days.
- 07
CARDIOGEN-82 (rubidium Rb 82 generator) prescribing information ↗
Name collision (drug label)
Label checked (updated 14 May 2026): a radioactive diagnostic agent for PET imaging of blood flow to the heart muscle. Unrelated to the peptide.
- 08
Levocarnitine (L-carnitine) (compound summary, CID 10917) ↗
Name collision (chemical database)
Record checked: lists “Cardiogen” among the depositor-supplied synonyms for L-carnitine, a different substance.
- 09
Cardiogen Dosing Protocol: 20 mg Vial ↗
Protocol source (wrong sequence)
Page checked 23 Sep 2026; describes Cardiogen as Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro (AEDP), a different peptide.
- 10
Cardiogen 20mg ↗
Product page (wrong sequence)
Page checked 23 Sep 2026; lists the chemical name H-Ala-Glu-OH, a two-amino-acid chain.
- 11
Кардиоген капсулы 60 шт (Cardiogen capsules, 60) ↗
Protocol source
Page checked; repeats the label schedule.
- 12
Кардиоген капсулы 60 шт. (Cardiogen capsules, 60) ↗
Protocol source
Page checked; label schedule with a 20–30-day course.
- 13
Кардиоген (Cardiogen) ↗
Protocol source
Page checked; summary and body give slightly different schedules.
- 14
Cardiogen (20 mg Vial) Dosage Chart ↗
Protocol source
Page checked; step-up table from 200 to 500 mcg once daily over 12 weeks.
- 15
- 16
- 17
Cardiogen Dosing Guide: Half-Life, Reconstitution & Protocol ↗
Protocol source
Page checked; conflicting amounts and an unrelated PubMed citation.
- 18
- 19
- 20
Cardiogen Peptide Dosage Guide, Benefits & Side Effects ↗
Protocol source
Page checked; two conflicting schedules on one page.
- 21
ClinicalTrials.gov searches for “cardiogen”, “AEDR” and “Ala-Glu-Asp-Arg” ↗
Registry search
Searched directly: four “cardiogen” results, all unrelated (including a genistein trial and a CardioGen-82 study); no AEDR results; the sequence search matched only unrelated amino-acid studies.
- 22
КАРДИОГЕН® №60, пептиды для сердечно-сосудистой системы (Cardiogen No. 60) ↗
Protocol source
Page checked; says use from age 12, beyond the adult-only label.
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Cardiogen: Dosage, Half-Life & Research Reference ↗
Protocol source
Page checked; gives 10–20 mg per course.
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Cardiogen Overview, Dosing & Safety ↗
Protocol source
Page checked; gives 10–20 mg oral capsules daily.
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Cardiogen Peptide: Benefits, Side Effects & More ↗
Protocol source
Page checked; its “Russian clinical protocol” has no source.
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Cardiogen Peptide Guide: Restoring Heart Health, Cellular Vitality & Endurance ↗
Protocol source
Page checked.
- 29
Cardiogen ↗
Community account
Seller-associated forum; read with that in mind. Archived comments read. Personal accounts, not clinical outcomes.
- 30
Роль пептидных биорегуляторов в повышении эффективности лечения больных в пожилом возрасте (Role of peptide bioregulators in improving treatment effectiveness in elderly patients) ↗
Human report
Full text reviewed (Russian).
Limitation: 12 heart patients took Cardiogen and 5 lung patients Bronchogen; results were pooled and no statistics were given.
- 31
Cardiogen Bioregulator - high rhr ↗
Community account
Post and archived comments read; includes a raised-heart-rate report. Personal accounts, not clinical outcomes.
- 32
Senescence-associated secretory phenotype of cardiovascular system cells and inflammaging: perspectives of peptide regulation ↗
Review
Full text checked; its “threefold decrease in mortality” statement for Cardiogen cites only the patent.
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Cardiogen ↗
Community account
Post and archived comments read, including follow-ups months later. Personal accounts, not clinical outcomes.
- 34
14 weeks on Reta [145 lb → 113lbs] ↗
Community account
Post and relevant comments read. Personal accounts, not clinical outcomes.
- 35
[The effect of the amino acids and cardiogen on the development of myocard tissue culture from young and old rats] (Russian) ↗
Tissue culture (rat)
Original abstract reviewed.
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Peptide Bio «Свободное дыхание» пептидный набор, 180 капсул (“Free Breathing” peptide kit) ↗
Protocol source
Page checked; two Bronchogen packs and one Cardiogen pack with a two-month combination schedule.
- 43
Day 141 down 96.4 pounds ↗
Community account
Post and relevant comments read; large multi-compound stack. Personal accounts, not clinical outcomes.
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- 47
Feasibility of transport of 26 biologically active ultrashort peptides via LAT and PEPT family transporters ↗
Computer modelling
Original abstract reviewed.
- 48
[Peptidergic regulation of the expression of signal factors of fibroblast differentiation in the human prostate gland in cell aging] (Russian) ↗
Cell study
Original abstract reviewed.
- 49
Tetrapeptide H-Ala-Glu-Asp-Arg-OH stimulates expression of cytoskeletal and nuclear matrix proteins ↗
Cell study
Original abstract reviewed.
- 50
Cardiovascular Genistein Therapy for Heart Failure Inflammation (CARDIOGEN), NCT06501768 ↗
Name collision (registry record)
Record checked; a genistein trial that shares the name, not the peptide.
- 51
[The tissue-specific effect of synthetic peptides-biologic regulators in organotypic tissues culture in young and old rats] (Russian) ↗
Tissue culture (rat)
Original abstract reviewed.
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Short peptides modulate the effect of endonucleases of wheat seedling ↗
Test-tube study
Original full text reviewed.
- 53
Penetration of short fluorescence-labeled peptides into the nucleus in HeLa cells and in vitro specific interaction of the peptides with deoxyribooligonucleotides and DNA ↗
Test-tube and cell study
Original full text reviewed.
Result detail: The cell-entry images were for other peptides; Cardiogen was tested only in test-tube DNA assays.
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Interaction of short peptides with FITC-labeled wheat histones and their complexes with deoxyribooligonucleotides ↗
Test-tube study
Original abstract reviewed.
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Онкомодифицирующие свойства синтетических пептидов при развитии опухолей у старых грызунов (Tumor-modifying properties of synthetic peptides during tumor development in old rodents) ↗
Dissertation (animal data)
Full dissertation summary reviewed (Russian); complete dissertation not read.
Result detail: Old mice with implanted Lewis lung carcinoma, ten injections: 2 mcg/mouse did not change tumor growth significantly and lengthened survival (24 versus 21 days); 100 mcg/mouse increased tumor growth (353 versus 275 mm³; stated as +33.5%) and new vessel growth.
- 57
Tumor-modifying effect of cardiogen peptide on M-1 sarcoma in senescent rats ↗
Animal study (rats)
Original abstract reviewed; full text not accessible.
Limitation: The same author's 2011 dissertation assigns the sarcoma-inhibition experiments to a different peptide, T-32.
- 58
Cardiogen ↗
Reference website (wrong sequence)
Page checked 23 Sep 2026; gives Ala-Glu-Asp (AED), a three-amino-acid chain.
- 59
Think twice before injecting peptides bought online: unauthorized products can seriously harm you ↗
Regulator
Checked 23 Sep 2026; a general warning about unauthorized injectable peptides that does not name Cardiogen.
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Drugs@FDA search: Cardiogen ↗
Regulator
Searched for Cardiogen: the only match is CARDIOGEN-82 (rubidium Rb-82 chloride, NDA 019414), the imaging agent. No match for Ala-Glu-Asp-Arg.
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Certain Bulk Drug Substances for Use in Compounding that May Present Significant Safety Risks (with the 503A and 503B bulk-substance category lists) ↗
Regulator
Checked 23 Sep 2026; Cardiogen and AEDR not listed on any of the three; Epitalon is named on the safety-risk page.
- 62
Unauthorized injectable peptide drugs seized and sold by Canada Peptide may pose serious health risks ↗
Regulator
Checked 23 Sep 2026; lists Bronchogen and Cortagen among seized products, not Cardiogen.
- 63
Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) search: Cardiogen ↗
Regulator
Searched for Cardiogen and Ala-Glu-Asp-Arg; no matching results.
- 64
Therapeutic Goods (Poisons Standard—June 2026) Instrument 2026 ↗
Regulator
Instrument text searched 23 Sep 2026; Cardiogen, Ala-Glu-Asp-Arg and AEDR are not named.
- 65
TGA warning on the risks of importing unapproved peptide products ↗
Regulator
Checked 23 Sep 2026; a general peptide warning that does not name Cardiogen.
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GOV.UK search: “Cardiogen” ↗
Regulator
Exact-term search returned no results; a separate MHRA authorization list concerns CARDIOGEN-82, the imaging agent.
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Marketing authorisations granted 15 March to 31 March 2023 ↗
Regulator
List checked 23 Sep 2026: CARDIOGEN-82 radionuclide generator (Bracco UK), the imaging agent; no peptide product.
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The 2027 Prohibited List ↗
Regulator
Full text checked; Cardiogen not named; S0 examples include peptides.
- 70
Improved Ejection Fraction? ↗
Community account
Post and relevant comments read. Personal accounts, not clinical outcomes.
- 71
Are bioregulators worth it ? What’s the most effective ? ↗
Community account
Post and relevant comments read. Personal accounts, not clinical outcomes.
- 72
Cardiogen ↗
Community account
Post and relevant comments read. Personal accounts, not clinical outcomes.
- 73
What peptide do you want to learn more about? ↗
Community account
Post and relevant comments read. Personal accounts, not clinical outcomes.
- 74
GLP without heart side effects? ↗
Community account
Relevant comment read; many simultaneous changes. Personal accounts, not clinical outcomes.
- 75
Clinical research brochure: cytomaxes and cytogens (Chelohart section) ↗
Product information
Chelohart section checked: peptides isolated from the heart tissue of calves up to 12 months old or pigs; 10 mg active substance per capsule.
- 76
Челохарт (Chelohart) ↗
Product page
Page checked; active material listed as peptide complex A-14, a natural extract.
- 77
Peptide substance restoring respiratory organs function (US7625870B2) ↗
Patent (Bronchogen)
Sequence checked (comparison section): Ala-Glu-Asp-Leu.
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Бронхоген (Bronchogen) capsules: description based on the manufacturer-approved instruction ↗
Product label (Bronchogen)
Page checked (comparison section): dietary supplement; 100 mcg AKS-B peptide complex per 0.2 g capsule; 1–2 capsules 1–2 times daily with food for 1 month; repeat after 4–6 months.
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[Prospects of tetrapeptide application in treatment of chronic bronchitis: molecular mechanisms] (Russian) ↗
Human report (Bronchogen)
Full text reviewed (comparison section): 58 adults on Bronchogen capsules plus usual care versus 20 on usual care; stratified random assignment reported; no placebo.
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[Report on the clinical study of the dietary supplement Bronchogen] (Russian-language institute report) ↗
Human report (Bronchogen)
Full text reviewed (comparison section): 23 adults with chronic bronchitis on Bronchogen capsules versus 19 on usual care; no placebo.
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FDA Briefing Document: Epitalon-related bulk drug substances (Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee, July 23–24, 2026) ↗
Regulatory source (Epitalon)
Document reviewed (comparison section): epitalon and epithalamin are different substances; subcutaneous products proposed; three human studies found (two sublingual, one injection beside the eye), one placebo-controlled; FDA proposes not adding epitalon to the 503A bulks list. No final decision located as of 23 Sep 2026.
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FORZINITY (elamipretide) injection, for subcutaneous use: prescribing information ↗
Drug label (SS-31)
Label checked 23 Sep 2026: indicated to improve muscle strength in Barth syndrome (patients at least 30 kg) under accelerated approval; 40 mg subcutaneously once daily.
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Effects of elamipretide on left ventricular function in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction: the PROGRESS-HF phase 2 trial ↗
Human trial (SS-31)
Original abstract reviewed (comparison section): 71 patients randomized to placebo, 4 mg or 40 mg daily for 28 days; no significant change in left ventricular end-systolic volume or ejection fraction versus placebo.
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FDA grants accelerated approval to first treatment for Barth syndrome ↗
Regulator (SS-31)
Checked 23 Sep 2026: accelerated approval of Forzinity (elamipretide) for Barth syndrome in patients weighing at least 30 kg.
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Updates and corrections
Updated September 23, 2026. This is a full rewrite of Doserly's Cardiogen guide. It separates the Russian capsules from injectable vials, adds the capsule label and the two human reports with their limits, the developer's patent experiments including the finding that larger amounts did worse, the mouse tumor-growth result, dated legal status, safety questions and a searchable source list. The date describes this revision, not a fresh check of every source.
Updated September 23, 2026. Added sections on storage, what happens after stopping, what studies monitored and how Cardiogen compares with Bronchogen, Epitalon and SS-31, with new sources appended to the end of the source list. Replaced “uncontrolled” with “without a placebo”, because both human reports had usual-care comparison groups, and added a website half-life figure of 30–75 seconds to the range of unsourced claims.
Found an error or a relevant study we missed? Report a correction with the guide title, the specific passage and a supporting source if available. Please leave out personal health records. See our editorial policy for how we handle attribution, evidence limits and corrections.