The short version of intranasal route fits in a sentence. The long version — which is the one that helps — is below.
Reviewed 2026-07-20. Anything still debated is marked as such rather than presented as settled.
The peptide is prone to several degradation pathways. Oxidation of the methionine residue produces a sulfoxide that elutes close to the parent peak in many chromatographic systems. Hydrolysis of peptide bonds and deamidation of susceptible residues in related sequences also reduce purity over time. Lyophilised material kept dry at minus twenty degrees Celsius and shielded from light is the most stable form commonly described in laboratory practice.
Material sold for laboratory use varies widely in stated purity and documentation. A certificate of analysis should list the analytical method, the column and detector used, and the observed purity value. Independent verification by an outside laboratory is the practical way to confirm identity when documentation is absent or internally inconsistent. Regulatory status differs by country, and a product legal in one jurisdiction may be unapproved or controlled in another.
Identity and purity of semax are established with reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to ultraviolet detection, usually at 214 nanometres. Mass spectrometry, most often electrospray ionisation in positive mode, confirms the molecular mass and reveals truncated sequences. Amino acid analysis and peptide mapping after enzymatic digestion provide additional structural confirmation. Laboratories typically report purity as the percentage area of the main peak, a figure that does not capture isomeric or oxidised variants unless the method resolves them.
Semax is a synthetic heptapeptide with the sequence Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro. It corresponds to the ACTH(4-7) fragment extended at the C-terminus by a Pro-Gly-Pro tripeptide, an addition intended to slow enzymatic breakdown. The molecular formula is C37H51N9O10S and the molecular mass is approximately 814 daltons. In the literature it is often described as an ACTH(4-10) analog, although that label reflects a naming convention as much as a precise structural relationship. The compound was developed in Russia and remains most closely associated with that research tradition.
Laboratory descriptions of the material are consistent across suppliers. It appears as a white to off-white lyophilized powder that dissolves readily in water and in polar organic solvents such as dimethyl sulfoxide. Aqueous solutions are clear and colorless at low concentrations. Because the peptide contains methionine, oxidation at the sulfur atom is a recognized degradation pathway, and handling notes usually call for protected, desiccated storage. Reported purity for research-grade lots is generally above 95 percent as measured by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Appearance | White to off-white powder | Lyophilised solid |
| Solubility class | Freely soluble in water | Also dissolves in aqueous buffers |
| Typical storage temperature | -20 °C | Dry, desiccated, protected from light |
| Typical analytical method | RP-HPLC with UV detection | Often paired with LC-MS |
| Water content | Reported as Karl Fischer value | Freeze-dried material is hygroscopic |
Published research covers ischemic stroke, traumatic brain injury, cognitive impairment, optic nerve conditions and attention-related measures. Much of the human evidence comes from small trials conducted in one country, which limits how far the results generalize. Animal models supply the larger share of the data, and effects seen in rodents do not transfer automatically to people. Reviews have noted that methodological reporting is often incomplete, making it difficult to pool results or compare treatment schedules across studies.
Pharmacokinetic accounts emphasize rapid breakdown. After intravenous dosing the intact peptide disappears from blood within minutes, and nasal delivery produces low but measurable concentrations. Metabolites rather than the parent molecule may account for part of the observed activity, although the relative contribution is unresolved. Dosing in the literature varies widely and no optimal schedule has been agreed. These gaps are regularly cited as a reason the findings have not produced broad clinical adoption beyond the original research setting.
Proposed mechanisms center on neurotrophic signaling rather than on classical melanocortin receptor activation. Rodent experiments have reported shifts in the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor after administration, together with changes in the associated receptor systems. Several authors argue that the peptide acts largely through its degradation products and their interaction with peptidergic pathways, but this remains a hypothesis rather than a settled finding. No single molecular target has been identified in a way that the field broadly accepts.
各国监管态度分化明显。俄罗斯按处方药管理，部分东欧国家留有使用记录；欧盟与美国未批准其作为药物上市，市面流通品通常标注为研究用化学品。身份差异意味着标示含量、纯度与无菌性缺少统一核查。体育领域还牵涉反兴奋剂名录，跨境携带则受目的地药品法规约束。
Semax 是人工设计的七肽，序列为 Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro，骨架取自促肾上腺皮质激素片段 ACTH(4-10)。它于二十世纪八十年代在苏联的分子遗传学研究机构内合成。设计目标是保留该片段与注意力和记忆相关的活性，同时剔除促皮质激素释放等内分泌作用。此后俄罗斯将其登记为药品并进入临床使用。
当时的短肽研究普遍关注能否穿越血脑屏障、在低剂量下产生中枢效应，Semax 属于这一路线。鼻内给药是其主要使用方式，俄语文献报道的适应症涵盖缺血性卒中、短暂性脑缺血发作、认知功能减退以及视神经病变。这些研究大多发表在当地期刊上，样本规模与终点设置同西方试验惯例存在差异，国际同行对其临床证据的强度看法不一。
纯度评估以反相高效液相色谱为主，通过主峰面积百分比给出粗略结果，再配合电喷雾质谱核对分子量。氨基酸分析可验证组成比例，手性色谱或毛细管电泳用于检查残基构型。常见杂质包括缺失序列的短肽、氧化产物与二聚体。由于多数市售品不附带完整检验报告，独立第三方检测常被用来核实标称值。
从分子层面看，Semax 是线性七肽，没有二硫键、糖基或脂链修饰，N 端为游离氨基，C 端为游离羧基。分子含组氨酸与谷氨酸侧链，因此在水和甲醇等极性溶剂中溶解良好，在非极性溶剂中溶解有限。计算分子量约为 814 Da，与其质子化离子的质荷比吻合，可用于质谱确认。
Development is attributed to researchers at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow during the early 1980s, building on earlier Soviet work with ACTH fragments. Russian regulatory approval followed for intranasal use, and the compound has remained commercially available there for decades. Most published human data originate from Russian and, later, some Eastern European clinical reports, which are not always accessible in English translation. Outside that region the material is generally handled as a research chemical rather than a licensed medicine.
Regulatory status differs sharply between jurisdictions. In Russia the peptide is registered as a prescription nasal preparation, while agencies such as the United States Food and Drug Administration have not approved it for any indication. Products sold elsewhere are typically labeled for laboratory research only, and such labels shift responsibility for safe handling to the purchaser. Because the same name covers pharmaceutical-grade nasal drops and bulk research powder, identity and purity documentation becomes the main practical concern when comparing sources.
Semax is a synthetic seven-amino-acid peptide whose sequence extends the ACTH(4-10) fragment with a C-terminal proline-glycine-proline tripeptide. The commonly cited sequence is Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro, giving a molecular formula near C37H51N9O10S and a molecular weight close to 813.9 g/mol. It belongs to the broader class of synthetic ACTH fragments studied for central nervous system effects rather than for adrenal steroid stimulation. In practice the material appears as a lyophilized white powder for laboratory work or as a dilute saline solution in clinical settings.
== Medical uses == Varicella vaccine is 70% to 90% effective for preventing varicella and more than 95% effective for preventing severe varicella. Follow-up evaluations have taken place in the United States of children immunized that revealed protection for at least 11 years. Studies were conducted in Japan which indicated protection for at least 20 years. People who do not develop enough protection when they get the vaccine may develop a mild case of the disease when in close contact with a person with chickenpox. In these cases, people show very little sign of illness. This has been the case of children who get the vaccine in their early childhood and later have contact with children with chickenpox. Some of these children may develop mild chickenpox also known as breakthrough disease. Another vaccine, known as zoster vaccine, is simply a larger-than-normal dose of the same vaccine used against chickenpox and is used in older adults to reduce the risk of shingles (also called herpes zoster) and postherpetic neuralgia, which are caused by the same virus. The recombinant zoster (shingles) vaccine is recommended for adults aged 50 years and older.
[(CH3)3SiO]2SO2 + 3 HF + SbF5 → [H3SO4]+[SbF6]− + 2 (CH3)3SiF The above reaction is thermodynamically favored due to the high bond enthalpy of the Si–F bond in the side product. Protonation using simply fluoroantimonic acid, however, has met with failure, as pure sulfuric acid undergoes self-ionization to give [H3O]+ ions:
US–South African relations took an unexpected turn with Ronald Reagan's electoral victory in the 1980 US presidential elections. Reagan's tough anti-communist record and rhetoric was greeted with cautious optimism by Pretoria; during his election campaign he'd described the geopolitical situation in southern Africa as "a Russian weapon" aimed at the US. President Reagan and his Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Chester Crocker adopted a policy of constructive engagement with the Botha government, restored military attachés to the US embassy in South Africa, and permitted SADF officers to receive technical training in the US. They believed that pressure tactics against South Africa would be contrary to US regional goals, namely countering Soviet and Cuban influence. In a private memo addressed to the South African foreign minister, Crocker and his supervisor Alexander Haig declared that "we [the US] share your view that Namibia must not be turned over to the Soviets and their allies. A Russian flag in Windhoek is as unacceptable to us as it is to you". Washington also ended its condemnation of SADF cross-border raids, which was perceived as tacit support for the latter's actions in Angola and elsewhere. This had the effect of encouraging Botha to proceed with larger and increasingly more ambitious operations against PLAN. Between 1980 and 1982 South African ground forces invaded Angola three times to destroy the well-entrenched PLAN logistical infrastructure near the border region.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
=== 3 May === French president Emmanuel Macron announced he would consider sending French troops to Ukraine "if the Russians were to break through the front lines" or if Ukraine were to request it. In Donetsk Oblast, three people were killed by Russian attacks in Kurakhove and Chasiv Yar, while one person was killed in a separate attack in Kharkiv. In Russia, the governor of Belgorod Oblast claimed that two people were injured by Ukrainian drone strikes in Voznesenovka and Shebekino. The HUR claimed the destruction of two Russian locomotives by fire over the last few days: one in Orenburg, the other in Vladikavkaz. Ukrainian media also reported that the agency carried out a cyberattack on internet providers and mobile operators in Tatarstan. The SBU arrested a resident of Kharkiv on suspicion of spying for Russia. The FSB claimed to have "liquidated" an agent working for the HUR who was plotting to carry out terrorist attacks against "military and energy objects" in Moscow and Leningrad Oblasts. The US announced plans to purchase new sensors for the JDAM-ER for Ukraine, which are designed to locate and destroy Russian GPS jammers.
The United States has a documented shortage of working laboratory professionals. For example, as of 2016 vacancy rates for Medical Laboratory Scientists ranged from 5% to 9% for various departments. The decline is primarily due to retirements, and to at-capacity educational programs that cannot expand which limits the number of new graduates. Professional organizations and some state educational systems are responding by developing ways to promote the lab professions in an effort to combat this shortage. In addition, the vacancy rates for the MLS were tested again in 2018. The percentage range for the various departments has developed a broader range of 4% to as high as 13%. The higher numbers were seen in the Phlebotomy and Immunology. Microbiology was another department that has had a struggle with vacancies. Their average in the 2018 survey was around 10-11% vacancy rate across the United States. Recruitment campaigns, funding for college programs, and better salaries for the laboratory workers are a few ways they are focusing to decrease the vacancy rate. The National Center For Workforce Analysis has estimated that by 2025 there will be a 24% increase in demand for lab professionals. Highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, work is being done to address this shortage including bringing pathology and laboratory medicine into the conversation surrounding access to healthcare. COVID-19 brought the laboratory to the attention of the government and the media, thus giving opportunity for the staffing shortages as well as the resource challenges to be heard and dealt with.
Heart failure characteristically involves increased catecholamine activity on the heart, which is responsible for several deleterious effects, including increased oxygen demand, propagation of inflammatory mediators, and abnormal cardiac tissue remodeling, all of which decrease the efficiency of cardiac contraction and contribute to the low ejection fraction. Beta blockers counter this inappropriately high sympathetic activity, eventually leading to an improved ejection fraction, despite an initial reduction in ejection fraction. Trials have shown beta blockers reduce the absolute risk of death by 4.5% over a 13-month period. In addition to reducing the risk of mortality, the numbers of hospital visits and hospitalizations were also reduced in the trials. A 2020 Cochrane review found minimal evidence to support the use of beta blockers in congestive heart failure in children, however did identify that from the data available, that they may be of benefit. Therapeutic administration of beta blockers for congestive heart failure ought to begin at very low doses (1⁄8 of target) with a gradual escalation of the dose. The heart of the patient must adjust to decreasing stimulation by catecholamines and find a new equilibrium at a lower adrenergic drive.
Oral tablets and capsules 5 mg (brand names Eldepryl, Jumex, and generics) – indicated for Parkinson's disease Orally disintegrating tablets (ODTs) 1.25 mg (brand name Zelapar) – indicated for Parkinson's disease Transdermal patches 6, 9, and 12 mg/24 hours (brand name Emsam) – indicated for major depressive disorder
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
The subsequent Soviet submarine attacks and air raids cause serious damage to Merchant Marine ships and naval vessels in Atlantic convoys, hindering NATO's war effort during the defense against the less-successful Soviet invasion of West Germany. Early editions of the Harpoon naval warfare simulation were based around defending the GIUK Gap. Tom Clancy used the simulation to test the naval battles for Red Storm Rising. The location of Iceland in the gap made it a participant in the Cold War and a target for a nuclear strike, especially through the introduction of the aforementioned Keflavik atomic bomber NATO base. Halldór Laxness dramatized the tension of these geopolitics from the perspective of an Icelandic maid in the novel The Atom Station.
The synthesis of ansamycin antibiotic (+)-mycotrienol makes use of a late stage tandem Stille type macrocycle coupling. Here, the organostannane has two terminal tributyl tin groups attacked to an alkene. This organostannane "stitches" the two ends of the linear starting material into a macrocycle, adding the missing two methylene units in the process. After oxidation of the aromatic core with ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) and deprotection with hydrofluoric acid yields the natural product in 54% yield for the 3 steps. An alkene group is added to vinyl bromide, followed by an in situ Diels-Alder cycloaddition between the added alkene and the alkene in the pyrrolidine ring.
In its oxidized form, azurin (Cu2+Az) receives an electron from its redox partner and is reduced according to the following reaction: Cu2+Az + e− → Cu+Az The redox potential is 310 mV. The highly interconnected beta-sheet structure of azurin is strongly coupled with its electron-transfer center (the copper-binding side). Considerable experimental evidence exists to suggest that hydrogen bonds play a role in the long-distance electron transfer mechanism of azurin. Taken together, these observations suggest that electrons tunnel through the protein along its polypeptide and hydrogen bonds, making azurin a useful model system for studying long-range, intraprotein electron transfer (LRET).
Np(VI) or NpO2+2, the neptunyl ion, shows a light pink or reddish color in an acidic solution and yellow-green otherwise. It is a strong Lewis acid and is the main neptunium ion encountered in solutions of pH 3–4. Though stable in acidic solutions, it is quite easily reduced to the Np(V) ion, and it is not as stable as the homologous hexavalent ions of its neighbours uranium and plutonium (the uranyl and plutonyl ions). It hydrolyzes in basic solutions to form the oxo and hydroxo ions NpO2OH+, (NpO2)2(OH)2+2, and (NpO2)3(OH)+5.
=== Oxidative stress === Oxidative stress, oxidative DNA damage and disruptions of DNA repair have been postulated to play a role in the etiopathology of both ASD and schizophrenia. Physiological factors and mechanisms influence by oxidative stress are believed to be highly influential to autism risk. Interactions between environmental and genetic factors may increase oxidative stress in children with autism. This theory hypothesizes that toxicity and oxidative stress may cause autism in some cases. Evidence includes genetic effects on metabolic pathways, reduced antioxidant capacity, enzyme changes, and enhanced biomarkers for oxidative stress. One theory is that stress damages Purkinje cells in the cerebellum after birth, and it is possible that glutathione is involved. Polymorphism of genes involved metabolization of glutathione is evidenced by lower levels of total glutathione, and higher levels of oxidized glutathione in autistic children. Based on this theory, antioxidants may be a useful treatment for autism. Environmental factors can influence oxidative stress pre, peri, and postnatally and include heavy metals, infection, certain drugs, and toxic exposure from various sources including cigarette smoke, air pollutants, and organophosphate pesticides.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography is the standard method, with detection in the ultraviolet range. Peak area percentage yields a purity figure for the main component. Mass spectrometry is normally run alongside to confirm molecular identity.
Dry lyophilised powder is generally kept at minus twenty degrees Celsius, protected from light and moisture. Repeated freeze-thaw cycles are avoided because they encourage aggregation and moisture uptake. Solutions are less stable than the solid form and degrade faster at room temperature.
A certificate documents what the supplier measured, not what an independent party confirmed. Methods, instruments and acceptance criteria can differ between suppliers. Third-party testing is the usual way to resolve discrepancies.
It is registered as a pharmaceutical product in Russia, where it is typically supplied as a nasal solution. In most other countries it is not an approved drug and is traded as a research chemical instead. Approval status depends entirely on the jurisdiction involved.