Cartalax: what the studies show, status and safety
Summary
Cartalax is a synthetic chain of three amino acids, worked out in St Petersburg from an animal cartilage extract. Not one study in people exists, registered or published. The cartilage claim rests on a 2008 patent and three papers from 2023, two cell experiments and a review, all from the group that holds the patent. It is approved nowhere, and it is banned in sport at all times.
Key findings at a glance
- No study in people, anywhere. The ClinicalTrials.gov registry held no entry for Cartalax or Kartalax on 10 September 2026, and no clinical report has been published [1], [2].
- Six papers in the literature. A PubMed search under the substance name returns six records. Widening it to the peptide code and the group's name brings the count to eleven [2].
- It has three parts, not four. The chemical record describes Ala-Glu-Asp, formula C12H19N3O8, mass 333.29 g/mol. The four-part sequence often listed for Cartalax belongs to Epitalon [3], [4].
- One experiment at cartilage-forming cells. Stem cells in a dish responded at 200 ng/ml, while the animal extract needed 2,000 ng/ml for the same effect. That is the whole cartilage evidence in a living cell, and it never left the dish [5].
- Two experiments where it did nothing. In ageing thymus cells, only a different peptide worked. In a nerve-development study, the effect came from a mixture and from another peptide [6], [7].
- Most of the research is about kidneys. In old rats it raised urine output by 1.2 to 1.4 times and cut protein loss by 1.5 to 2.8 times. That organ has nothing to do with the joint claim [8].
- No regulator holds a record for it. The American substance database returns nothing, so there is no code, no label and no adverse event file [9].
- Banned in sport around the clock. Category S0 covers substances no health authority has approved for people, which catches Cartalax without naming it [10].
What it is
Cartalax is a laboratory-made peptide of three amino acids, sold under the trade name Kartalax in Russia and as a research chemical in the West. It comes from the St Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, the group around Vladimir Khavinson, and is presented as a peptide for cartilage and bone [11].
The starting point was an extract of cartilage and bone from young animals. The group reported finding this three-part peptide inside that mixture, then made it synthetically and patented it in 2008 [11], [12].
The labels "bioregulator" and "cytogen" come from the same group. They are house terms rather than pharmacological categories, and appear in no pharmacopoeia and no regulator's classification [9].
Quick facts
| Field | Value | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| Chain | Ala-Glu-Asp, three amino acids | [3], [13] |
| Formula and mass | C12H19N3O8, 333.29 g/mol | [3] |
| Structure key | InChIKey KXEVYGKATAMXJJ-ACZMJKKPSA-N | [3] |
| Code in the literature | T-31, also written AED | [13] |
| Chemical record | PubChem CID 87815447 | [3] |
| CAS registry number | 85806-95-7 | [3] |
| Code with the American regulator | None | [9] |
| Classification code for medicines | None | [9] |
| How long it lasts in the body | No published value, for any route | [2] |
| Registered studies in people | None | [1] |
| Approval status | Approved nowhere, for nothing | [9], [14] |
| Sold as | Capsules and drops in Russia, 20 mg vials of powder in the West | [14], [15] |
| Originating group | St Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology | [11] |
How it works
Nobody knows. No receptor has been identified, no binding has been measured, and every mechanism on offer comes from a computer model or from cells in a dish.
The group's own explanation runs like this. The peptide would enter the cell through a transport protein, reach the nucleus and attach to particular stretches of DNA. Genes would then switch on. The evidence for each step is worth setting out separately.
- Attaching to DNA. Computer docking suggests a preferred stretch written "acct" [16]. A second paper from the same group instead favours a run of alternating A and T bases [17]. No structure and no binding experiment supports either.
- Getting into the cell. A transport model gives a docking score of −26.65 at carrier proteins. The same table lists the peptide as a cartilage protector and as a regulator of skin cells, and the evidence given for the cartilage label is the patent, not a study [18].
- Calming ageing cartilage cells. In a dish, markers of cell ageing fell and one repair protein rose [19]. This is a description of what changed, not a demonstration of how.
- Acting on skin and stem cells. Two further dish experiments report raised sirtuins and collagen, and a 3.5-fold to 5.6-fold rise in the growth factor gene IGF1 [20], [21].
There is a size problem underneath all of this. A chain of three amino acids carries very little information, far too little to pick out one gene from a whole genome. Alanine, glutamic acid and aspartic acid also circulate freely in the blood as ordinary amino acids.
One finding from the group's own work cuts against the ageing story. The peptide raised expression of NF-kB, a driver of inflammation, in both ageing models tested [21]. A later review by the same authors concedes this could speed cell ageing up rather than slow it down [22].
What the studies found
Two experiments in cartilage cells, several in kidney and skin cells, two rat experiments and nothing in people. Every one comes from the originating group or from co-authors of it, and no outside laboratory has repeated any of it [2].
Cartilage cells
Cell data Human stem cells in a dish were pushed towards becoming cartilage. At 200 ng/ml the peptide raised the genes and proteins of four cartilage markers, among them SOX9 and collagen type II. The animal extract reached the same point only at 2,000 ng/ml, ten times higher [5]. The abstract gives no effect sizes, no spread and no p-values.
Cell data In a second 2023 experiment, cartilage cells showed a shift in the ageing-related signals they release. Markers p16, p21, p53, TNF-alpha and IL-1alpha fell, and sirtuin-1 rose [19]. Only the direction of change is reported; the paper names no figures.
Both appeared in 2023 in the same Russian-language journal, from the same institute, and a review from that year repeats them [23]. Those three papers are the entire cartilage literature. Neither experiment followed the cells into an animal, let alone a joint. The label "chondroprotector" itself rests on the 2008 patent, not on a study [18].
Kidneys
Animal data In old rats the peptide raised urine output by 1.2 to 1.4 times, cut protein in the urine and protein loss by 1.5 to 2.8 times, raised sodium transport by 1.2 to 1.3 times and sodium output by 1.3 times [8]. Group sizes and statistics are absent from the abstract.
Animal data In rats with kidney failure caused by the drug cisplatin, it lowered protein loss and urine salt levels. The broader recovery came from the animal extract and from two other peptides. The authors single out a different peptide, EDL, as the potent one [24].
Cell data In ageing kidney cells it raised cell renewal markers alongside the animal extract [25]. In kidney tissue from young and old rats it worked, in the authors' own words, to a lesser degree than that extract [26].
Skin cells
Cell data In human skin cells ageing in culture it raised sirtuin-1, sirtuin-6 and collagen I [20]. The anti-inflammatory part of that paper belongs to a different peptide, KE. In an earlier experiment it lowered the enzyme MMP-9 and raised two renewal markers, together with three other peptides [27].
Stem cell genes
Cell data In human bone marrow stem cells aged in culture, expression of the growth factor gene IGF1 rose 3.5-fold to 5.6-fold under the short peptides tested [21]. The paper reports no separate figures for this peptide alone on the other ageing genes it measured; those belong to two comparison peptides.
Where it did nothing
Cell data In ageing thymus cells, three peptides were compared and only AB-9 showed a protective effect. Nothing was reported for this one [6].
Cell data In a stem cell study of nerve development, the two nerve markers rose under a mixture of four peptides and under KED alone. On its own, Cartalax produced no reported effect [7].
Nothing in people
No trial has been registered, and none has been published. A 2023 review from the group states that the extract and the peptide showed high effectiveness in older patients taking it by mouth for joint wear [23]. That single sentence carries no patient count, no design, no comparison group and no numbers.
The underlying study cannot be found in PubMed, in Europe PMC or in any registry [1], [2]. It cannot be treated as human evidence. A separate line in another review, saying a cartilage preparation is in second-phase testing in Russia, refers to the animal extract and not to this peptide [22].
What is still unknown
- Whether anything happens in a living joint, in any species.
- How much reaches the blood by mouth or by injection, and how quickly it breaks down.
- What it does over months, at any amount.
- Whether the DNA-binding idea is true at all.
Side effects and safety
No side effect profile exists. That is not the same as being well tolerated: it means nobody has ever collected one. There is no study with safety measurements, no case report and no entry in the American adverse event database [9], [2].
The only safety-related observation comes from an animal experiment. Kidney tissue in the old-rat study showed no visible signs of damage, alongside raised antioxidant enzyme activity [8]. That is one organ, in one rodent experiment, and it carries no statement about people.
What is missing
- No toxicology of any kind: no acute study, no long-term study, no upper limit established in any species.
- No measurement of uptake, distribution, breakdown or clearance, for any route.
- No data on immune reactions, cancer risk or effects on reproduction.
- No data on pregnancy, breastfeeding, children, or reduced liver or kidney function.
- No interaction data and no long-term data at all.
- No official reference standard. Without a pharmacopoeia monograph or a regulator code, identity and purity of traded material cannot be checked against anything [9].
The injectable form carries risks of its own that are separate from the substance. Vials sold as research material are made under no pharmaceutical quality system, so sterility, endotoxin content and actual peptide content are unknown [15]. Mixing and injecting non-sterile material brings the usual risks of abscess, vein inflammation and blood-borne infection.
Doses used in studies
These are the doses used in the cited studies, listed for reference. They are not a recommendation.
Every line below is an amount added to fluid in a dish, or an animal experiment whose amount was never published. There is no line for people, because no study in people exists.
| Study | Model | Amount | Route | Duration | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Myakisheva 2023, cartilage development | Human stem cells | 200 ng/ml | Added to the culture fluid | Not given in the abstract | [5] |
| Caputi 2019, nerve development | Human stem cells from tooth ligament | 0.01 µg/ml, that is 10 ng/ml, in buffer | Added to the culture fluid | 10 days, fluid renewed every 3 days | [7] |
| Ashapkin 2020, gene expression | Human bone marrow stem cells | Nanomolar range, no figure in the abstract | Added to the culture fluid | Not given in the abstract | [21] |
| Khavinson 2021, review of the series | General statement for these short peptides | 2 to 200 ng/ml as the working range | Cells in a dish | — | [28] |
| Zamorskii 2018, kidney function | Old rats | Not given in the abstract | Into the body, route unstated | Not given in the abstract | [8] |
| Zamorskii 2015, kidney failure | Rats | Not given in the abstract | Not given in the abstract | Not given in the abstract | [24] |
A concentration in a dish cannot be converted into an amount for a body. It says nothing about what would reach a tissue, or how long it would stay there.
Dosing schedules circulate among users, such as fixed microgram amounts injected daily for ten days. They come from no study [29]. One such page says outright that no published trial evidence for reversing joint wear exists.
Development and approval status
A patent, a handful of papers, no development programme
- 2008Patent granted for a cartilage and bone peptideEurasian patent, held by the St Petersburg group, ref [11]
- 2011First appearance in the literature, as a negative resultAgeing thymus cells; only a different peptide worked, ref [6]
- 2014-2018Kidney and skin work in cells and ratsSame group and co-authors throughout, refs [8], [24], [25], [27]
- 2023The first and only experiments in cartilage cellsTwo papers, one journal, one institute, refs [5], [19]
- 10 September 2026Registers checkedNo approval anywhere, no registered trial, no regulator code, refs [1], [9]
There is no development programme behind Cartalax. No sponsor has filed anything, no phase of testing has begun and nothing is pending. What exists is a patent from 2008 and a thin line of laboratory papers from one institute [11], [2].
| Market | Status | Note | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Not approved | No substance record, no label, no adverse event file; never put forward for pharmacy compounding | [9], [30] |
| European Union | Not approved | No authorisation and no trial; the agency's own register could not be queried on the day of checking | [31] |
| Germany | Not approved | An unlicensed injectable preparation may not be placed on the market | [31] |
| United Kingdom | Not approved | The register returned only a page shell, so the check rests on every other register | [32] |
| Australia | Not approved | Absent from the Poisons Standard, which is not permission | [33] |
| Canada | Not approved | The medicines database returns nothing; a control query works | [34] |
| Switzerland | Not approved | No authorisation identified | [31] |
| Russia | Not approved | Trade pages offer capsules and drops as a food supplement, which is not a medicine licence | [14] |
Two rows need care. The Australian entry means the substance was never scheduled, not that it may be used; an unlisted medicine still needs approval [33]. The Russian entry is the one most often misread. What is known about it comes from trade pages, not from an official register: they name a capsule and drop food supplement, give no registration number, and the Russian supplement register was not queried for this page. A food supplement passes no test of effectiveness in any case, and the injectable form has no licence there either [14].
Anti-doping
Cartalax is banned at all times, in and out of competition. Category S0 of the 2026 Prohibited List covers "any pharmacological substance which is not addressed by any of the subsequent sections of the List and with no current approval by any governmental regulatory health authority for human therapeutic use" [10].
The name does not appear on the list, and that is not a gap. This category is written openly to catch exactly those substances no authority has approved. Because Cartalax is licensed nowhere, it falls squarely inside it. The list adds that everything in this category counts as a specified substance, which affects the penalty rather than the ban [10].
German anti-doping law reads differently. Its annex names banned substances one by one and does not cover this peptide, so possession is not an offence there [35].
No published test exists for detecting it in a sample. Further detail is in the overview of peptides banned in sport.
Compared with related peptides
Counts as of 10 September 2026. The six PubMed records include reviews and papers in which the peptide is only one of several tested. Sources [1], [2], [5], [19].
| Peptide | Relation to Cartalax | What the checks behind this page found |
|---|---|---|
| Cartalax | — | Ala-Glu-Asp, 333.29 g/mol; six PubMed records, no trial in people [1], [2], [3] |
| Epitalon | One glycine longer, from the same laboratory, assigned to the pineal gland | Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly, 390.35 g/mol, its own chemical record; routinely swapped with Cartalax in listings [4] |
| Pinealon | Another short peptide of the same series from the same group | Appears in the group's own transport table alongside Cartalax, scored −30.29 and labelled a nerve protector; no comparison of the two was made for this page [18] |
| BPC-157 | Unrelated in origin, often sold beside it for joints | Printed by name in category S0 of the 2026 list, while Cartalax is caught by the general clause [10] |
| Semax | Another short peptide from Russian institute research | Not covered by the searches behind this page |
The comparison is not about strength. It shows where Cartalax sits: it has a settled chemical identity, and almost nothing else. Epitalon, its closest relative, is the reason this register carried a wrong sequence for years.
The peptides sold on the same shelves differ widely in how much published work stands behind them. Being sold together says nothing about being alike.
Common misconceptions
- "Cartalax is Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly." It is not, and this register carried that error too. Four parts describe Epitalon, mass 390.35 g/mol. Cartalax has three parts and a mass of 333.29 g/mol [3], [4].
- "The databases list it as Asp-Glu-Asp." The chemical record and the substance record both carry the stray entry term H-Asp-Glu-Asp-OH. The structure filed under the same record, formula and IUPAC name alike, describes Ala-Glu-Asp; the stray term is a database artefact [3], [13].
- "Its code is T-33." The papers write T-31, and the substance record lists "T-31 peptide" as an entry term [13], [25].
- "Cartalax and Sigumir are the same thing." Sigumir is a mixture extracted from animal cartilage and bone. Cartalax is one synthetic peptide. In the dish, the mixture needed ten times the concentration for the same effect [5], [23].
- "A cartilage preparation is in phase two in Russia, so Cartalax is in trials." That sentence refers to the animal extract. For the peptide itself the registry holds nothing [1], [22].
- "It is sold in Russia, so it has been approved there." It is sold there as a food supplement in capsules and drops. Supplements pass no test of whether they work, and the injectable form has no licence in Russia either [14].
- "The kidney results show it works on joints." Most of the published work is about kidneys, skin and stem cells. A change in protein loss in rat urine says nothing about human cartilage [8], [24].
- "It is called a chondroprotector in the literature." It appears with that label in a table by the group itself, and the evidence cited for the label is a patent rather than a study [18].
- "It is not on the doping list, so it is allowed." It is not named, but category S0 catches every substance no authority has approved. That is precisely its situation [10].
Frequently asked questions
Has Cartalax ever been tested in people?
No. A search of the ClinicalTrials.gov registry on 10 September 2026 returned no study of Cartalax, under that name or as Kartalax. PubMed and Europe PMC hold no clinical report either. The only claim of use in people sits in a review abstract with no patient numbers, no design and no results.
What is the sequence of Cartalax?
Three amino acids: alanine, glutamic acid and aspartic acid, written Ala-Glu-Asp or AED. The chemical record gives the formula C12H19N3O8 and a mass of 333.29 g/mol. Listings that give four parts, Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly, are describing Epitalon, a different peptide from the same laboratory.
Is Cartalax the same thing as Epitalon?
No. Epitalon carries one extra glycine at the end, which makes it a four-part peptide of 390.35 g/mol with its own chemical record. The two come from the same St Petersburg group but are assigned to different tissues, cartilage and bone for one, the pineal gland for the other.
Does Cartalax rebuild cartilage?
There is no evidence for that in a living body. Two cell experiments from 2023 report changes in cartilage-forming cells growing in a dish, and a review from the same year repeats them. All three come from the group that holds the patent. Nothing has been measured in an animal joint or in a person, and no independent laboratory has repeated the work.
Why is most Cartalax research about kidneys?
Because that is where the group tested it. Papers from 2014 to 2018 examined kidney cells and rat kidneys, and the cartilage work only appeared in 2023. A change in protein loss in the urine of old rats says nothing about a human knee.
Is Cartalax approved as a medicine anywhere?
No, in no country. It has no marketing authorisation in the United States, the European Union, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Switzerland or Russia. In Russia it is sold as a capsule food supplement, which involves no test of whether it works.
Is the injectable form of Cartalax legal?
It is licensed nowhere. What is sold in the West are 20 mg vials of freeze-dried powder labelled for research use only. There is no pharmacopoeia monograph and no regulator code, so no official standard exists against which identity or purity could be measured.
Is Cartalax banned in sport?
Yes, at all times, in and out of competition. Category S0 of the 2026 Prohibited List covers any drug-like substance that no health authority has approved for use in people. Cartalax is not printed on the list by name, and that absence is not a loophole.
What are the side effects of Cartalax?
Nobody knows, because nobody has looked. There is no toxicology work, no study with safety measurements and no adverse event report in the American database. The single safety-related finding is that rat kidneys showed no visible damage in one animal experiment.
Why does this page list study concentrations for Cartalax but no dose?
Because the numbers that exist are amounts added to cell culture fluid, such as 200 ng/ml in a dish. They cannot be converted into an amount for a body. No study has ever established a dose in people, and no measurement of uptake or breakdown exists for any route.
Sources
- ClinicalTrials.gov, API v2. Queries for "Cartalax" and "Kartalax" as intervention and as free text; total count zero. A free-text query for "cartalax" returns one unrelated nutrition study, and queries for "AED peptide" return only epilepsy studies. Retrieved 10 September 2026. https://clinicaltrials.gov/api/v2/studies
- PubMed, NCBI E-utilities, and Europe PMC, REST search. "Cartalax" returns six records through the substance-name mapping; "AED peptide Khavinson" returns eleven. Europe PMC returns one record for "Kartalax". Retrieved 10 September 2026. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=cartalax
- PubChem. Compound CID 87815447, alanyl-glutamyl-aspartic acid, C12H19N3O8, 333.29 g/mol, InChIKey KXEVYGKATAMXJJ-ACZMJKKPSA-N, CAS 85806-95-7, synonyms including "Cartalax" and "T-31 peptide". Retrieved 10 September 2026. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/87815447
- PubChem. Compound CID 219042, Epitalon, Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly, C14H22N4O9, 390.35 g/mol. Retrieved 10 September 2026. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/219042
- Myakisheva SN, Linkova NS, Diatlova AS, Polyakova VO, Ryzhak GA (2023). The influence of peptides on the chondrogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells during replicative aging. Advances in Gerontology 36(3). PMID 37782646. In Russian.
- Lin'kova NS, Polyakova VO, Trofimov AV, Kvetnoy IM, Khavinson VKh (2011). Peptidergic regulation of thymocyte differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis during aging of the thymus. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine 151(2). PMID 22238759. DOI 10.1007/s10517-011-1298-8
- Caputi S, Trubiani O, Sinjari B, Trofimova S, Diomede F, Linkova N, Diatlova A, Khavinson V (2019). Effect of short peptides on neuronal differentiation of stem cells. International Journal of Immunopathology and Pharmacology 33. PMID 30791821. PMCID PMC6376556. DOI 10.1177/2058738419828613
- Zamorskii II, Shchudrova TS, Zeleniuk VG, Linkova NS, Nichik TE, Khavinson VKh (2018). The influence of peptides on the morphofunctional state of old rats kidneys. Advances in Gerontology 31(4). PMID 30607912. In Russian.
- United States register checks, 10 September 2026. FDA Global Substance Registration System, searches for "cartalax" and "ALANYL-GLUTAMYL-ASPARTIC": no record, therefore no substance code. openFDA drug label API and adverse event API: not found. DailyMed web services v2: zero entries, database state 9 September 2026. https://gsrs.ncats.nih.gov
- World Anti-Doping Agency. The 2026 Prohibited List, in force from 1 January 2026, section S0, published in German as BGBl. III No. 219 of 30 December 2025. Full-text checks for "Cartalax", "Kartalax" and "Ala-Glu" returned no match. Retrieved 10 September 2026. https://www.wada-ama.org/en/prohibited-list
- Khavinson VK, Grigoriev EI, Malinin VV, Ryzhak GA (2008). Peptide normalizing osseous and cartilaginous tissue metabolism, pharmacological substance based thereon and method of its application. Eurasian patent EA 010574, granted 30 October 2008; Russian parallel filing RU2299741C1. Cited as the evidence for the cartilage assignment in later reviews; the patent text itself was not read.
- Zhurkovich IK, Kovrova NG, Ryzhak GA, Mironova ES, Khavinson VK (2020). Identification of short peptides as part of polypeptide complexes isolated from animal organs. Biological Bulletin Reviews 140:140-148. DOI 10.31857/S004213242002012X
- US National Library of Medicine, MeSH supplementary concept record UID 67572340, "alanyl-glutamyl-aspartic acid", mapped to oligopeptides. Entry terms include Ala-Glu-Asp, cartalax and T-31 peptide. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
- Russian trade page for Карталакс, capsules and sublingual drops, retrieved 10 September 2026. States the composition as a peptide complex of alanine, glutamic acid and aspartic acid with cellulose as carrier, names the St Petersburg institute as maker and gives the status as a food supplement. Trade record, cited as evidence of what is sold. Not linked.
- Western research-chemical listings for Cartalax, retrieved 10 September 2026. Freeze-dried powder in 20 mg vials, sequence given as Ala-Glu-Asp, purity stated by the seller as 99 per cent, marked "research use only". Trade records, cited as evidence of what is sold. Not linked.
- Khavinson VKh, Lin'kova NS, Tarnovskaya SI (2016). Short peptides regulate gene expression. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine 162(2). PMID 27909961. DOI 10.1007/s10517-016-3596-7
- Khavinson VKh, Tarnovskaia SI, Lin'kova NS, Poliakova VO, Durnova AO, Nichik TE, Kvetnoi IM, D'iakonov MM (2014). Tripeptides slow down aging process in renal cell culture. Advances in Gerontology 27(4). PMID 25946838. In Russian.
- Khavinson V, Linkova N, Kozhevnikova E, Dyatlova A, Petukhov M (2022). Transport of biologically active ultrashort peptides using POT and LAT carriers. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 23(14):7733. PMID 35887081. PMCID PMC9323678. DOI 10.3390/ijms23147733. Lists "Cartalax (AED) −26.65 Chondroprotector" with the patent as the cited evidence.
- Myakisheva SN, Linkova NS, Kozhevnikova EO, Polyakova VO, Ryzhak GA (2023). Peptides prevent the forming of secretory phenotype of chondrocytes associated with aging. Advances in Gerontology 36(2). PMID 37356100. In Russian.
- Fridman NV, Linkova NS, Kozhevnikova EO, Gutop EO, Khavinson VKh (2020). Comparison of the effects of KE and AED peptides on functional activity of human skin fibroblasts during their replicative aging. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine 170. PMID 33231794. DOI 10.1007/s10517-020-05022-1
- Ashapkin V, Khavinson V, Shilovsky G, Linkova N, Vanuyshin B (2020). Gene expression in human mesenchymal stem cell aging cultures: modulation by short peptides. Molecular Biology Reports 47. PMID 32399807. DOI 10.1007/s11033-020-05506-3
- Linkova N, Khavinson V, Diatlova A, Myakisheva S, Ryzhak G (2023). Peptide regulation of chondrogenic stem cell differentiation. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 24(9):8415. PMID 37176122. PMCID PMC10179481. DOI 10.3390/ijms24098415. States that the animal polypeptide complex, not the synthetic peptide, is in second-phase testing in Russia.
- Myakisheva SN, Linkova NS, Kozhevnikova EO, Ryzhak GA (2023). Chondrocytes secretory phenotype associated with aging: role in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis and prospects for peptide bioregulation. Advances in Gerontology 36(3). PMID 37782637. In Russian. Contains the unsupported statement about oral use in older patients.
- Zamorskii II, Shchudrova TS, Lin'kova NS, Nichik TE, Khavinson VKh (2015). Peptides restore functional state of the kidneys during cisplatin-induced acute renal failure. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine 159(6). PMID 26515176. DOI 10.1007/s10517-015-3062-y
- Khavinson VKh, Lin'kova NS, Polyakova VO, Durnova AO, Nichik TE, Kvetnoi IM (2014). Peptides regulate expression of signaling molecules in kidney cell cultures during in vitro aging. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine 157(2). PMID 24958378. DOI 10.1007/s10517-014-2540-y. Writes the codes as "short peptides T-31 (AED) and T-35 (EDL)".
- Chalisova NI, Lin'kova NS, Nichik TE, Ryzhak AP, Dudkov AV, Ryzhak GA (2015). Peptide regulation of cell renewal processes in kidney tissue cultures from young and old animals. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine 159(1). PMID 26033601. DOI 10.1007/s10517-015-2906-9
- Lin'kova NS, Drobintseva AO, Orlova OA, Kuznetsova EP, Polyakova VO, Kvetnoy IM, Khavinson VKh (2016). Peptide regulation of skin fibroblast functions during their aging in vitro. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine 161(1). PMID 27259496. DOI 10.1007/s10517-016-3370-x
- Khavinson V, Popovich I, Linkova N, Mironova E, Ilina A (2021). Peptide regulation of gene expression: a systematic review. Molecules 26(22):7053. PMID 34834147. PMCID PMC8619776. DOI 10.3390/molecules26227053. Gives 2 to 200 ng/ml as the working range for these short peptides in culture.
- User-facing page listing injection schedules for Cartalax, retrieved 10 September 2026. Gives fixed microgram amounts daily for ten days and every other day, and states on the same page that no published clinical trial evidence for reversing joint wear exists. Trade record, cited only as evidence that such schedules circulate. Not linked.
- US Food and Drug Administration. Bulk drug substances nominated for use in compounding under section 503A, state of 14 May 2026. Neither Cartalax nor Ala-Glu-Asp appears in any of the three categories; the neighbouring dipeptide alanyl-L-glutamine does appear, at the alphabetical position where an entry would sit. Checked in full text 10 September 2026. https://www.fda.gov/media/94155/download
- European, German and Swiss register checks, 10 September 2026. No authorisation, no application and no registered trial was identified. The European Medicines Agency site answered the direct request with an authorisation error and its data interface with an anti-robot page, so the European finding rests on the absence of any entry in every other register checked and on the absence of any clinical trial. https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines
- MHRA Products, products.mhra.gov.uk, searches for "cartalax" and the control term "semaglutide" on 10 September 2026. Both returned the same page shell, so the register could not be read; recorded as an unverified gap rather than a nil result.
- Therapeutic Goods (Poisons Standard — June 2026) Instrument 2026, authorised version F2026L00633, registered 28 May 2026. Full text checked 10 September 2026 for "Cartalax", "Kartalax", "Ala-Glu-Asp" and "alanyl-glutamyl": no match, and no general heading for peptides exists. Control: alanylglutamine is listed in schedule 4.
- Health Canada, Drug Product Database API, brand-name queries for "cartalax" and "ala-glu-asp": empty result. Control query for "ozempic" returns DIN 02471469. Retrieved 10 September 2026. https://health-products.canada.ca/api/drug/drugproduct/
- German Anti-Doping Act, annex to section 2 paragraph 3, published as BGBl. 2023 I No. 67. Full text checked 10 September 2026: Cartalax, Ala-Glu-Asp and AED do not appear, and the peptide hormone section lists its substances by name with no catch-all heading. https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/antidopg/anlage.html
Cite this page
The register checks and literature searches behind this page were run on 10 September 2026. For a substance with almost no scientific record, the date on which those searches came back nearly empty is part of the finding.
myPeptides Research & Editing. (2026). Cartalax: what the studies show, status and safety. Version 1.0, 10 September 2026. myPeptides Peptide Register. Retrieved from https://mypep.app/peptides/cartalax
How pages in this register are compiled and graded is described under methodology; the full register is at peptides.
| Version | Date | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | 2026-09-10 | Initial publication |
Last verified: 10 September 2026. Next review: on the appearance of any study in people, any independent replication of the cell findings, or any change in the anti-doping classification.