# Vesugen

Khavinson 'vascular' tripeptide Lys-Glu-Asp; small Russian studies, a handful of hopeful user reports.

- Page: https://peprank.xyz/peptides/vesugen
- Goals: Longevity, Neuroprotection (Research peptide)
- Also known as: KED; Lys-Glu-Asp; Cytogen AC-2; peptide complex AC-2; vesuGEN; Vezugen; Vesugen for vessels; Везуген
- Routes: Oral / Injection
- Safety tier: Strict: Caution · Balanced: Clean · Evidence only: Clean
- Risk axes (0 none to 3 severe): Seen harm 0, Mechanism 1, Data gap 2, Silent harm 1, Product 3
- Positive: 58% of 4 graded reports glowing or positive, shrunk toward the 49% all-report average by 8 reports' weight
- Rank: #6 of 88 research peptides
- Graded reports: 4 (Glowing 1, Positive 2, Negative 1)
- Evidence: Small human studies — Small, uncontrolled Russian studies from the Khavinson network: 41 men with vasculogenic erectile dysfunction, 32 older patients with organic brain syndrome (with Pinealon), workers and truck drivers given several Cytogens at once, and a 110-person comparison of geroprotective methods. No placebo-controlled trial and no drug registration; the rest is cell work by the same group.
- Access: Grey market
- Onset: Not acute; the varicose-vein user judged it a month after the course, at the follow-up ultrasound.
- Lasts: Taken as 1-month capsule courses or 10-30 day injection cycles, every 3-6 months; one user says symptoms come back about a year after the last course.
- Cost per month: ≈ €45–220 (researchers' estimate)
- Updated: 2026-10-30

## What users report

Few reports. Only four people said how Vesugen went. The most striking: someone with recurring varicose veins after vein surgery took two packs of capsules (8 a day) for a month and says a follow-up ultrasound found the veins gone, with symptoms returning after a year off, which he has repeated twice a year for five years. Two others credit it in combinations, with L-arginine for erectile dysfunction and with Cartalax and retatrutide for joint and tendon pain. One injector got a racing pulse (to 90) and a flushed face after each 1 mg dose. Most Reddit threads are people asking where to buy it. Felt nothing: None of 4 first-hand reports; too few to count.

**Effects:** varicose veins gone on ultrasound after a month of capsules (one user, repeated over five years); better erections with L-arginine (one user); less joint and tendon pain in a stack with Cartalax and retatrutide (one user); claimed: better penile blood flow in vasculogenic erectile dysfunction (one uncontrolled 41-patient report)

**Downsides:** heart rate up to 90 and a flushed face after 1 mg subq (one user); symptoms return about a year after stopping (the varicose-vein user); capsules hold only 0.1 mg each, so users take many or switch to vials; expensive (Your Protocol 60 x 1 mg capsules about £190)

**Risks:** In its developers' 32-patient study, Vesugen with Pinealon raised a pro-oxidant marker and lowered blood CD34+ stem cells, which the authors called inhibition of haemopoiesis; Stimulates proliferation (Ki-67) of vascular cells and raised IGF-1 gene expression in stem cells, both in vitro; Grey-market injectable vials: purity, sterility and identity unverified

**Caveat:** Evidence for any vascular benefit comes from the developers' small uncontrolled studies; the varicose-vein ultrasound story is one person. Lys-Glu-Asp has no named harm pathway, so the score reflects thin data rather than a credible risk, though the same group saw falling CD34+ stem cells in its own human study and nobody has looked again. Capsule and vial doses differ fiftyfold: capsules 0.2-0.4 mg a day (manufacturer), vials 1-2 mg a day.

**Typical use:** Grey-market vials: 1-2 mg a day subq for 10-30 days, a dose with no published basis. Cytogen capsules: 1-2 capsules (0.1-0.2 mg) twice a day with meals for a month, repeated after 3-6 months (manufacturer); one user took 8 capsules a day.

**Getting it:** Two quite different products share the name. The Khavinson-line Cytogen capsules (peptide complex AC-2) hold 0.1 mg Lys-Glu-Asp each and are sold as a supplement; Your Protocol (vesuGEN), Condor Research and Europe Chemist ('Vesugen for vessels') sell capsules of 0.1-1 mg. Western research shops sell 20 mg vials for injection, 10-50 times the capsule dose. Ventfort (A-3) is the related Cytomax calf-vessel extract, a different product.

**Stacked with:** Pinealon (The combination the developers' own human studies used, and the pairing they recommend for older people.); Cartalax, Cardiogen, Bronchogen (Run together as a 'Khavinson stack' by injectors; one user credits Vesugen, Cartalax and retatrutide together for his joint pain.); L-arginine, tadalafil (Taken for erections and vascularity alongside nitric-oxide boosters.)

## Risk profile

- **Seen harm 0/3:** No serious adverse event has been published or reported first-hand. One injector describes a pulse up to 90 and facial flushing after each 1 mg dose, which passed and is not serious; the developers' studies report no adverse events but had no systematic safety reporting. The zero reflects limited documented exposure, not reassurance.
- **Mechanism 1/3:** No named pathway to serious harm. The signals are single-group and weak: Vesugen raised the proliferation marker Ki-67 in cultured vascular cells and IGF-1 gene expression in stem cells (both in vitro), and in the developers' 32-patient study a pro-oxidant marker rose and CD34+ blood stem cells fell. None has been shown in a living animal or replicated.
- **Data gap 2/3:** Not registered as a drug. Human data are small uncontrolled Russian studies from the developers' network (41 men with erectile dysfunction, 32 older patients with Pinealon, occupational groups given several Cytogens at once), with no placebo control and no systematic safety reporting.
- **Silent harm 1/3:** With no credible mechanism, rated on the harms actually reported or most plausible: flushing and a raised pulse after injection, injection-site or allergic reactions to grey-market vials, all noticed within hours and gone on stopping. A blood-count effect like the CD34+ fall would only show on a test.
- **Product 3/3:** Reddit users increasingly inject grey-market 20 mg vials, with unverified purity and sterility. The Khavinson-line Cytogen capsules (0.1 mg each, sold as a supplement) and Western 1 mg capsules are the common oral alternative and would score 1-2.
- **Never if:** Pregnancy or breastfeeding (no human reproductive data); Anyone using it in place of treatment for peripheral arterial disease, coronary disease or deep-vein problems

## Top reports

- Glowing, longevity, 8 capsules a day (two packs in one month): “I took two packages in one month (8 capsules a day), symptoms relieved. Had another ultrasound a month after my dosing cycle was complete, and the latest ultrasound confirmed the varicose veins were gone.” — [r/Biohackers](https://www.reddit.com/r/Biohackers/comments/1x2nr93/anyone_have_first_hand_experience_with_vesugen/pf8ce1j/)
- Positive, libido-hormones: “Have any of you tried the blood vessel peptide Vesugen. That and l-arginine help me alot.” — [r/erectiledysfunction](https://www.reddit.com/r/erectiledysfunction/comments/133c1il/peptides/)
- Positive, recovery: “The combination of Reta+ Cartalax+ Vesugen took out my inflammation and that was the cause of pretty much all my pains from joints to tendons like to the point if misbelief” — [r/BiohackingU](https://www.reddit.com/r/BiohackingU/comments/1meadx1/the_bioregulators_youre_sleeping_on_my_top_3/o5ij1na/)
- Negative, longevity, 1 mg subq: “I just stared a cycle and at 1mg subq my heart rate goes up to 90 then tapers back down. Face flushes red. Have know idea why but think it might have something to do with the drop in blood pressure.” — [r/Biohackers](https://www.reddit.com/r/Biohackers/comments/1x2nr93/anyone_have_first_hand_experience_with_vesugen/ph948i3/)

## Studies

- [Kitachev et al. 2014: The efficacy of peptide bioregulators of vessels in lower limbs chronic arterial insufficiency in old people (Russian)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25051774/) (open-label, n=41, 2014): In 41 men with erectile dysfunction from atherosclerosis, penile artery blood flow improved after Vesugen monotherapy, clinically and on instrumental measures; no control group.
- [Meshchaninov et al. 2015: Effect of synthetic peptides on aging of patients with polymorbidity and organic brain syndrome (Russian)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26390612/) (open-label, n=32, 2015): Vesugen and Pinealon improved biological-age markers, Vesugen more so, alongside a pro-oxidant signal and a fall in CD34+ blood stem cells the authors called inhibition of haemopoiesis.
- [Myakotnykh et al. 2016: Comparative analysis of different methods of geroprotection (Russian)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28539017/) (observational, n=110, 2016): Among CO2 baths, hyperbaric oxygen, massage and Vesugen plus Pinealon, the peptide combination improved biological age most and was among the safest on blood tests.
- [Bashkireva & Artamonova 2012: Peptide correction of neurotic disorders among truck drivers (Russian)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23734521/) (observational, 2012): Bioregulator courses improved stress and mood scores in truck drivers, best with Pinealon plus Vesugen; the peptide arm is barely described.
- [Khavinson et al. 2014: Epigenetic aspects of peptidergic regulation of vascular endothelial cell proliferation during aging (Russian)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25051766/) (in-vitro, 2014): Vesugen raised the proliferation marker Ki-67 in vascular endothelial cultures from young and old animals; docking suggested it binds the MKI67 promoter.
- [Kozlov et al. 2016: Molecular aspects of vasoprotective peptide KED activity during atherosclerosis and restenosis (Russian)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28539025/) (in-vitro, 2016): KED normalised endothelin-1 and connexin expression and raised sirtuin-1 in cultured endothelium modelling atherosclerosis and restenosis.
- [Ashapkin et al. 2020: Gene expression in human mesenchymal stem cell aging cultures: modulation by short peptides](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32399807/) (in-vitro, 2020): KED, KE and AED raised IGF1 expression 3.5-5.6 fold; KED lowered FOXO1.
- [Khavinson et al. 2021: Peptide KED: molecular-genetic aspects of neurogenesis regulation in Alzheimer's disease (review)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34173097/) (review, 2021): The developers' review: oral KED improved memory and attention in elderly people with functional CNS disorders, and in vitro it regulates p16, p21, nestin, GAP43, APOE and IGF1 genes.

## Sources

- [Peptide Product: Vesugen (Cytogen, peptide complex AC-2; 0.2-0.4 mg a day)](https://peptideproduct.com/catalog/peptide_products/cytogens/vesugen/)
- [Your Protocol: vesuGEN 1 mg, 60 capsules (Lys-Glu-Asp)](https://yourprotocol.co/products/vesugen-1mg-60-capsules)
- [Khavinson et al. 2021: Peptide regulation of gene expression, a systematic review (KED = Vesugen)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8619776/)
- [PepGrades: Vesugen 20 mg vial prices (Oct 2026)](https://pepgrades.com/prices/vesugen-20mg)
- [r/Biohackers: Anyone have first hand experience with Vesugen?](https://www.reddit.com/r/Biohackers/comments/1x2nr93/anyone_have_first_hand_experience_with_vesugen/)