Livagen

Livagen is a short synthetic peptide from the Russian 'Khavinson' bioregulator family, marketed for the liver and blood cells. In lab studies it stimulated growth in liver-tissue explants but not other tissue types, increased gene accessibility in cells from elderly people, and in isolated rat liver tissue was reported to help maintain cell structure, aid regeneration, and raise protein output, most strongly in older animals. The research is Russian-led, preclinical, hasn't been independently replicated in the West, there are no human trials, and Livagen isn't FDA-approved.

Livagen is marketed as a liver "bioregulator," but the evidence is laboratory-only. In lab studies it stimulated the growth of liver-tissue explants (but not other tissues), increased gene accessibility in cells from elderly people, and — in rat liver kept alive in culture — was reported to support the structure and regeneration of liver cells and raise protein production, most strongly in cells from old animals. These are all findings from one research lineage; there are no large controlled human trials showing Livagen treats any liver or blood condition.

Not a drug in the US and not FDA-approved for any indication. A synthetic "Khavinson" short-peptide bioregulator ("cytogen") from the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology (Russia), associated with the liver. Evidence is almost entirely preclinical (explant/cell/chromatin) plus small Russian studies; no large controlled human trials. WADA: not specifically named; best treated as S0 (non-approved), prohibited at all times — verify with your anti-doping organization. Not DEA-scheduled.

Livagen has essentially no controlled human safety data and is not FDA-approved. It is not a treatment for any liver or blood condition. As a non-approved research peptide it is best treated as prohibited in regulated sport (WADA S0). VialWise is a research and educational reference, not medical advice.

⚠️ For research and educational purposes only. Livagen is not FDA-approved and is not a treatment for any liver or blood condition. Its evidence is preclinical. Information here is informational, not medical advice.

⚠️ Part of the Khavinson "bioregulator" family — read the shared caveat. Livagen is one of a set of short peptides from the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, sharing a thin, mostly-preclinical, largely single-institute evidence base and no large controlled human trials.[³]

⚠️ Sequence note. Livagen's sequence is Lys-Glu-Asp-Ala (KEDA) — stated verbatim in the primary literature, including citation [⁶], which names "the peptide lyvagen (Lys-Glu-Asp-Ala)." As with any research-supply peptide, what is actually in a given vial is a separate question — sequence confirmation in the literature is not a purity or identity guarantee for material bought from a research-supply chain.

Livagen is the synthetic tetrapeptide Lys-Glu-Asp-Ala (KEDA)[⁶] in the "Khavinson" bioregulator family, associated with the liver. According to PubMed: - Livagen (with Cortagen, Epithalon, and Vilon) stimulated the growth of its matching-tissue explants — liver — in organotypic culture, the group's claimed tissue-specific effect.[¹] - In lymphocytes from elderly people it activated ribosomal genes and de-condensed age-condensed chromatin, i.e., increased gene accessibility.[²] A later English-language study in donors aged 75–88 reported the same pattern across five short peptides including Livagen, and reported decondensation of pericentromeric chromatin on chromosomes 1 and 9 for Livagen specifically.[⁴] - Directly on liver tissue: in a rat organotypic liver culture, immunocytochemical and morphometric analysis reported that the peptide stimulated structural and functional homeostasis of liver cell populations, with the activity described as directed at morphological preservation and regeneration.[⁵] - In isolated liver cells: in monolayer cultures of rat hepatocytes across ages, Livagen was reported to raise protein synthesis — most in cells from old animals — and to increase the amplitude of the protein-synthesis rhythm in old rats. In the same experiment Epitalon, a different Khavinson peptide, did not change protein synthesis.[⁶] This is the actual primary source behind the "restores the circadian rhythm of biosynthesis in liver cells" claim that circulates on vendor pages.

Evidence quality. Preclinical — explant, cell, hepatocyte, and chromatin studies, all in rats or cultured human cells, all from a single research lineage (St. Petersburg Institute plus the Tbilisi chromatin group). No large controlled human trials. See the shared Khavinson caveat below.

### About the Khavinson bioregulators (shared framing)

Developed from the 1970s by Vladimir Khavinson at the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, these cytomedin/cytogen peptides went from organ-extract complexes to synthetic short peptides proposed to have tissue-specific effects under a "peptide theory of ageing."[³] Honest caveats: evidence is overwhelmingly preclinical plus small, often non-blinded Russian studies; no large independent randomized trials; none FDA-approved; sold in Russia as injectables and supplements.

Regulatory status (US). Not FDA-approved; not a drug. Not DEA-scheduled.

Regulatory status (sport — WADA). Not specifically named; best treated as S0 (non-approved), prohibited at all times. Verify with your anti-doping organization.

Common research interests. Liver and blood-cell support (its associated organ). Extrapolated from preclinical data, not an established human use.

Commonly reported

• Injection-site reactions
• Reactions to research-supply material of variable purity
• Gene-accessibility effects. Livagen de-condenses chromatin and activates ribosomal genes in vitro;[²] long-term consequences in humans are uncharacterized.
• Unknown long-term safety.

Not a treatment for any liver or blood condition — see a clinician

Pregnancy and lactation — no data; default to contraindicated

Pediatric use — no data; not for researchers under 18

Active malignancy — caution; effects of gene-activity-modulating peptides in the cancer context are uncharacterized

Known hypersensitivity — contraindicated

Regulatory note (US): Not FDA-approved; not DEA-scheduled.

Regulatory note (sport): Best treated as WADA S0. Verify with your anti-doping organization.

Bioregulator (Khavinson peptide)

A very short synthetic peptide from the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, each linked to an organ — here, the liver.

Chromatin / heterochromatin

How DNA is packaged. "De-condensing" it makes genes readable. Livagen was reported to do this in aged cells.

Ribosomal genes

Genes that build the cell's protein-making machinery; Livagen reportedly activated them.

Preclinical

Research in cells or animals, before human testing.

1. Khavinson VK. (2001). Tissue-specific effects of peptides. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 132(2):807–808.(PMID 11713572)
2. Khavinson VKh, Lezhava TA, Monaselidze JG, Dzhokhadze TA, Dvalishvili NA, Bablishvili NK, Ryadnova IYu. (2002). Effects of Livagen peptide on chromatin activation in lymphocytes from old people. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 134(4):389–392.(PMID 12533768)
3. Khavinson VKh. (2002). Peptides and Ageing. Neuro Endocrinology Letters, 23 Suppl 3:11–144.(PMID 12374906)
4. Khavinson VKh, Lezhava TA, Malinin VV. (2004). Effects of short peptides on lymphocyte chromatin in senile subjects. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 137(1):78–81.(PMID 15085253)
5. Riadnova IIu, Filippov SV, Iuzhakov VV. (2002). [Functional morphology of an organotypic liver culture exposed to the peptide livagen]. Advances in Gerontology, 10:88–94. Russian-language; no DOI indexed.(PMID 12577697)
6. Brodskiĭ VIa, Khavinson VKh, Zolotarev IuA, Nechaeva NV, Malinin VV, Novikova TE, Gvazava IG, Fateeva VI. (2001). [Rhythm of protein synthesis in cultures of hepatocytes from rats of different ages. Norm and effect of the peptide livagen]. Izvestiia Akademii Nauk, Seriia Biologicheskaia, (5):517–521. Russian-language; no DOI indexed.(PMID 15926314)

• Bronchogen — same mechanism class
• Cardiogen — same mechanism class
• Cartalax — same mechanism class
• Chonluten — same mechanism class
• Cortagen — same mechanism class
• Crystagen — same mechanism class