Published · 4 references
Epitalon vs N-Acetyl Epitalon
Epitalon and N-Acetyl Epitalon are different molecules: N-Acetyl Epitalon carries an N-terminal acetyl group and a C-terminal amide, and results reported for Epitalon cannot be assumed to hold for it.
Structure at a glance
Epitalon
N-Acetyl Epitalon
Ac: N-terminal acetyl group. NH2: C-terminal amide. Letters are one-letter amino acid codes.
Drawn from the product database. Each measure's bars share one scale.
| Property | Epitalon | N-Acetyl Epitalon |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A four-residue peptide, designed from the amino acid composition of Epithalamin, a bovine pineal gland extract.[1] Also written Epithalon. | The same four residues as Epitalon, with an acetyl group at the N-terminus and an amide at the C-terminus. |
| How they relate | N-Acetyl Epitalon is a chemically modified form of Epitalon. Two caps distinguish it from the unmodified tetrapeptide: the acetyl at the N-terminus and the amide at the C-terminus. | |
| CAS number | 307297-39-8 | N/A (modified Epitalon form) |
| Molecular formula | C14H22N4O9 | C16H25N5O9 |
| Molecular weight | 390.35 g/mol | 431.40 g/mol |
| Sequence | AEDG | Ac-AEDG-NH2 |
| Target | No target established for Epitalon. Binding to DNA at gene promoters is a proposal, not a demonstrated mechanism. | No target established for N-Acetyl Epitalon. |
| Evidence base | FDA's literature search found three human studies.[2] The strongest of them did not specify blinding.[2] Also animal and in vitro studies. One research group produced almost all of the literature. | PubMed searches run in August 2026 returned zero records under every name variant of N-Acetyl Epitalon tried.[3] That shows absence from PubMed, not from all peer review. |
| Regulatory status | The FDA has not approved Epitalon for human use. A US orphan drug designation was granted in 2010 and withdrawn or revoked in 2016.[2] Designation is not approval. | The FDA has not approved N-Acetyl Epitalon for human use. |
| Compared head-to-head? | No direct comparison found in PubMed (searched October 2026).[4] | |
| Handling difference | Both contain an aspartate followed by glycine, which can rearrange to isoaspartate. | |
How Epitalon and N-Acetyl Epitalon differ
Epitalon and N-Acetyl Epitalon are not the same molecule. Both are four-residue peptides, and the four residues are the same. In N-Acetyl Epitalon, the N-terminus carries an acetyl group in place of a free amine, and the C-terminus is an amide in place of a free acid. Capping a peptide in this way makes a new compound with its own name and its own weight.
PubMed searches run in August 2026 returned zero records under every name variant of N-Acetyl Epitalon tried.[3] That establishes absence from PubMed, not absence from all peer review, and unindexed or non-English work may exist. No in vitro, animal or human study of N-Acetyl Epitalon could be located. For Epitalon, FDA's literature search found three human studies, and the strongest of them did not specify blinding.[2] One research group produced almost all of the literature on Epitalon.
Acetylating the N-terminus removes the free alpha-amino group. In the literature reviewed for N-Acetyl Epitalon, results reported for Epitalon cannot be assumed to hold for the acetylated form, even taking the proposed DNA-binding mechanism at face value.
Epitalon was designed from the amino acid composition of Epithalamin, a bovine pineal gland extract.[1] Because Epithalamin is an undefined animal-tissue mixture and Epitalon one defined synthetic molecule, a result for one is not a result for the other. An independent 2025 review found structural work on Epitalon very limited.[1]
Both peptides carry an aspartate followed by glycine, which can rearrange to isoaspartate in solution. In N-Acetyl Epitalon, one impurity class is specific to an acetylated peptide: incompletely capped material, where the acetylation step did not go to completion.
Have Epitalon and N-Acetyl Epitalon been compared directly?
No direct comparison was found in a PubMed search run in October 2026.[4] That search covers PubMed only.
Read more on each compound
Epitalon
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Epitalon the same as N-Acetyl Epitalon?+−
Epitalon and N-Acetyl Epitalon are not the same molecule. N-Acetyl Epitalon has the same four residues, with an acetyl group at the N-terminus and an amide at the C-terminus. Capping a peptide in this way makes a new compound with its own name and its own weight.
Does research on Epitalon apply to N-Acetyl Epitalon?+−
Results reported for Epitalon cannot be assumed to hold for N-Acetyl Epitalon. Acetylating the N-terminus removes the free alpha-amino group. PubMed searches run in August 2026 returned zero records under every name variant of N-Acetyl Epitalon tried.
References
- 1Araj SK, Brzezik J, Madra-Gackowska K, Szeleszczuk L. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2025;26(6):2691. PMID 40141333.
- 2US Food and Drug Administration, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Briefing Document, Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee, July 2026. fda.gov
- 3PubMed E-utilities absence searches, run 27 August 2026. (Zero records for n-acetyl-epitalon and each further name variant listed.)
- 4PubMed search via NCBI E-utilities, run 3 October 2026; records entered to 2 October 2026. Query: ("N-acetyl epitalon"[tiab] OR "N-acetyl-epitalon"[tiab] OR "N-acetyl epithalon"[tiab] OR "acetyl epitalon"[tiab] OR "acetylated epitalon"[tiab] OR "Ac-AEDG"[tiab] OR "N-acetyl-Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly"[tiab] OR acetyl*[tiab] OR acetylated[tiab] OR acetylation[tiab]) AND ("epitalon"[tiab] OR "epithalon"[tiab] OR "epithalone"[tiab] OR "epitalone"[tiab] OR "AEDG"[tiab] OR "Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly"[tiab] OR "alanyl glutamyl aspartyl glycine"[nm]) AND ("1800/01/01"[edat] : "2026/10/02"[edat]). 1 record; none was a direct comparison of the two compounds.
Related comparisons
Epitalon vs Pinealon
Epitalon and Pinealon are different molecules: a synthetic four-residue peptide and a synthetic three-residue one.
Read Comparison