Vilon

Vilon is marketed for immune support, tied to the thymus, the gland that trains immune cells. It's a synthetic two-amino-acid peptide (Lys-Glu) from the Russian 'Khavinson' bioregulator family. It is not an FDA-approved drug, and the evidence is from cell and tissue studies, not human trials.

Vilon is marketed as an immune "bioregulator." In lab studies it stimulated the growth of thymus-tissue explants (but not other tissues), activated T-helper immune cells and reduced immune-cell death in aging spleen, and was the most active of the peptides tested at driving thymus-cell proliferation in mice. Its two-amino-acid sequence is confirmed. These are laboratory findings from one research institute; there are no large controlled human trials showing Vilon treats any 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 thymus/immune system. Evidence is almost entirely preclinical (explant/cell) 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.

Vilon has essentially no controlled human safety data and is not FDA-approved. It is not a treatment for any immune 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. Vilon is not FDA-approved and is not a treatment for any immune or other condition. Its evidence is preclinical. Information here is informational, not medical advice.

⚠️ Part of the Khavinson "bioregulator" family — read the shared caveat. Vilon 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.[¹]

Vilon is a synthetic dipeptide, Lys-Glu (KE), in the "Khavinson" bioregulator family, associated with the thymus/immune system. According to PubMed, Vilon (with Cortagen, Epithalon, and Livagen) stimulated the growth of its matching-tissue explants — thymus — in organotypic culture, the group's claimed tissue-specific effect,[¹] and in aging spleen it showed immunoprotective effects, activating T-helper cells with a reduced level of apoptosis.[²] In mouse thymocytes, Vilon produced the most potent comitogenic effect on thymocyte proliferation among the peptides tested, modulated the comitogenic activity of interleukin-1β, and stimulated sphingomyelinase activity more than Epithalon or Cortagen did — the most directly Vilon-and-thymus mechanistic result available.[⁴] Its KE (Lys-Glu) sequence is confirmed, and KE was among the short peptides studied for effects on stem-cell differentiation — though in that study the reported neuronal-differentiation effect came from KED and the combined peptide mixture, not from KE alone.[³] These underpin its marketing as an immune peptide under the Khavinson theory.

Evidence quality. Preclinical (explant/cell). 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." 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. Immune/thymus 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
• Immune modulation. Vilon alters immune-cell behavior in vitro;[²] consequences of modulating immunity in humans are uncharacterized.
• Unknown long-term safety.

Not a treatment for any immune condition — see a clinician

Autoimmune disease / immunosuppression — caution given the immune-modulating signal

Pregnancy and lactation — no data; default to contraindicated

Pediatric use — no data; not for researchers under 18

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 thymus.

Thymus

A gland where immune T-cells mature. It shrinks with age; Vilon is tied to it.

T-helper cell

An immune cell that coordinates immune responses. Vilon activated these in aging spleen in the lab.

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. Chervyakova NA, Linkova NS, Chalisova NI, Koncevaya EA, Trofimova SV, Khavinson VKh. (2014). [Molecular aspects of immunoprotective activity of peptides in spleen during the ageing process]. Advances in Gerontology (Uspekhi Gerontologii), 27(1):224–228.(PMID 28976144)
3. 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, 33:2058738419828613.(PMID 30791821)
4. Khavinson VKh, Rybakina EG, Malinin VV, Pivanovich IYu, Shanin SN, Korneva EA. (2002). Effects of short peptides on thymocyte blast transformation and signal transduction along the sphingomyelin pathway. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 133(5):497–499.(PMID 12420072)

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