Epithalamin (Epithalone) is a peptide that has been shown in animal research to have remarkable anti-aging and anti-tumor properties. It regulates the cell cycle through up-regulation of telomerase, an enzyme that elongates the end of chromosomes by adding tandem repeats. This enables the cells to continue proliferating without becoming neoplastic or eventually dying.
It also stimulates the formation of DNA in aged cells, thus allowing them to continue making more of themselves and increasing their life expectancy. It increases the activity of Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase and reduces protein peroxidation in animals with a high level of oxidative stress. It decreases the incidence of intestinal tumors in mice prone to them, suppresses development of spontaneous mammary tumors in rats and inhibits proliferation of cancer cells in animals with established tumors.
The peptide is being tested in human trials for a number of conditions, including heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease. The results from a recent trial have been promising. For a period of three years 39 coronary patients received, in addition to basic therapy, regular courses of epithalamin. The study found that the peptide significantly reduced mortality rates in those patients.
Other studies have shown that the peptide has many other effects. In one example, it increased lymph flow and targeted the death of harmful or useless cells, a process known as apoptosis, in a mouse model of colon cancer. The peptide also increased longevity in rhesus monkeys, decreased the maximum size of mammary tumors in rats and prevented cancerous mammary growth in female rats with existing mammary tumors.