The short version of ACTH fragment fits in a sentence. The long version — which is the one that helps — is below.
This page was last updated on 2025-10-22 and is reviewed periodically as new material appears.
Semax is a synthetic heptapeptide with the sequence Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro. Its design combines the ACTH(4-7) core fragment with a C-terminal Pro-Gly-Pro extension, a modification intended to improve stability and prolong activity. The molecule is hydrophilic, carries no lipid chains or glycosylation, and has a theoretical mass just over 810 daltons in its free form. All seven residues are proteinogenic amino acids, so no non-natural building blocks appear in the backbone. A free N-terminal methionine and C-terminal proline define the unmodified parent peptide.
The compound was developed during the 1980s at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow as part of research on fragments of adrenocorticotropic hormone. Early work examined short ACTH-derived sequences that retained neurotrophic effects while lacking the endocrine activity of the full hormone. Semax entered clinical use in Russia during the 1990s, where it received registration for several neurological indications. Outside that region it remained primarily a laboratory research material rather than an approved therapeutic. English-language literature on it grew more slowly and frequently cited the original Russian studies.
Terminology around the compound varies by source. It appears in catalogues and papers as Semax, as the heptapeptide ACTH(4-7)-Pro-Gly-Pro, and under various alphanumeric laboratory codes used by individual suppliers. These names refer to the same sequence but may imply different salt forms, purity grades, or counter-ions. Peptide databases usually list the free base mass, while product descriptions sometimes report acetate or trifluoroacetate salts with a different formula weight. Because naming conventions for research peptides are not standardised across vendors, checking the declared sequence and measured mass is more reliable than relying on a trade name alone.
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.
The compound is registered in Russia as a pharmaceutical product, most commonly formulated as a nasal solution, and has been used in that setting since the 1990s. Outside that jurisdiction it is generally handled as a research chemical rather than an approved medicine. Regulatory status therefore differs sharply between countries, and material sold internationally may not correspond to the Russian pharmaceutical formulation. Documentation with commercial samples is typically limited to a certificate of analysis covering purity and identity, not clinical status or local legal classification.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical class | Synthetic heptapeptide | ACTH(4-7) analogue |
| Sequence | Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro | Free N terminus, unmodified side chains |
| Molecular weight | 813.9 Da | Free base; salt forms differ |
| Appearance | White to off-white powder | Lyophilised solid |
| Solubility | Freely soluble in water | Hydrophilic; polar solvents preferred |
Although there are clinical situations where transfusion with red blood cells is the only clinically appropriate option, clinicians look at whether alternatives are feasible. This can be due to several reasons, such as patient safety, economic burden or scarcity of blood. Guidelines recommend blood transfusions should be reserved for patients with or at risk of cardiovascular instability due to the degree of their anaemia. In stable patients with iron deficiency anemia, oral or parenteral iron is recommended. Non-blood volume expanders are available for cases where only volume restoration is required, but a substance with oxygen-carrying capacity would help doctors and surgeons avoid the risks of disease transmission and immune suppression, address the chronic blood donor shortage, and address the concerns of Jehovah's Witnesses and others who have religious objections to receiving transfused blood. The research in this area is ongoing. A number of blood substitutes have been explored, but thus far they all have serious limitations, and as of 2023 no blood substitutes have been approved for use in transfusions, however the European Union, Russia, South Africa and Mexico have all approved the use of blood substitutes in other clinical settings. Most attempts to find a suitable alternative to blood thus far have concentrated on cell-free hemoglobin solutions. Blood substitutes could make transfusions more readily available in emergency medicine and in pre-hospital EMS care.
cell counting The process of determining the number of cells within a biological sample or culture by any of a variety of methods. Counting cells is an important aspect of cytometry used widely in research and clinical medicine. It is generally achieved by using a manual or digital cytometer to count the number of cells present in small fractions of a sample, and then extrapolating to estimate the total number present in the entire sample. The resulting quantification is typically expressed as a density or concentration, i.e. the number of cells per unit area or volume.
As a result of the 1917 Russian Constituent Assembly election which saw a landslide victory for the Socialist-Revolutionaries, the Bolsheviks declared on the next day that the assembly was elected based on outdated party lists which did not reflect the Socialist Revolutionary Party split into Left and Right Socialist-Revolutionary factions. The Left Socialist-Revolutionaries were allied with the Bolsheviks. The All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviets promptly dissolved the Russian Constituent Assembly. The International Socialist Commission (ISC) was formed in February 1919 at a meeting in Bern, Switzerland by parties that wanted to resurrect the Second International. At a conference held on 27 February 1921 in Vienna, parties which did not want to be a part of the Communist International or the resurrected Second International formed the International Working Union of Socialist Parties (IWUSP). The ISC and the IWUSP eventually joined to form the LSI in May 1923 at a meeting held Hamburg.
The physical examination is the examination of the patient for medical signs of disease that are objective and observable, in contrast to symptoms that are volunteered by the patient and are not necessarily objectively observable. The healthcare provider uses sight, hearing, touch, and sometimes smell (e.g., in infection, uremia, diabetic ketoacidosis). Four actions are the basis of physical examination: inspection, palpation (feel), percussion (tap to determine resonance characteristics), and auscultation (listen), generally in that order, although auscultation occurs prior to percussion and palpation for abdominal assessments. The clinical examination involves the study of:
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Oral selegiline was significantly more effective than the selegiline patch in terms of depressive symptom improvement (SMD = −1.49, k = 6, n = 282 vs. SMD = −0.27, k = 4, n = 1,026, respectively; p = 0.03). However, this was largely due to older and less methodologically rigorous trials that were at high risk for bias. Oral selegiline studies also often employed much higher doses than usual, for instance 20 to 60 mg/day. The quality of evidence of selegiline for depression was rated as very low overall, very low for oral selegiline, and low to moderate for transdermal selegiline. For comparison, meta-analyses of other antidepressants for depression have found a mean effect size of about 0.3 (a small effect), which is similar to that with transdermal selegiline. In two pivotal regulatory clinical trials of 6 to 8 weeks duration, the selegiline transdermal patch decreased scores on depression rating scales (specifically the 17- and 28-item HDRSTooltip Hamilton Depression Rating Scale) by 9.0 to 10.9 points, whereas placebo decreased scores by 6.5 to 8.6 points, giving placebo-subtracted differences attributable to selegiline of 2.4 to 2.5 points. A 2013 quantitative review of the transdermal selegiline patch for depression, which pooled the results of these two trials, found that the placebo-subtracted number needed to treat (NNT) was 11 in terms of depression response (>50% reduction in symptoms) and 9 in terms of remission of depression (score of ≤10 on the MADRSTooltip Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale).
17 February – A global review of harms from personal car automobility finds cars have killed 60–80 million people since their invention, with automobility causing roughly every 34th death, and summarises interventions that are ready for implementation to reduce the, largely crash-linked or pollution-mediated, deaths from automobility-centrism and dependency. 19 February Astronomers announce the most luminous object ever discovered, quasar QSO J0529-4351, located 12 billion light-years away in the constellation Pictor. Researchers with the University of Tennessee and University of Missouri publish an academic study about how survivors from the 2011 Joplin tornado recover from "Tornado Brain", a new term for the PTSD of tornado survivors. 20 February – The northern green anaconda (Eunectes akayima), a new species of the giant snake, is described for the first time. 21 February Researchers use artificial intelligence to forecast plasma instabilities in fusion reactors up to 300 milliseconds in advance. The first neuroimaging study that shows flow state-related brain activity during a creative production task, jazz improvisation, is published. Its results support a theory that creative flow represents optimized specialized processing enabled by extensive experience, relaxing conscious control.
In 1956, a factory in the city released methylmercury in the industrial wastewater resulting in thousands of deaths and many other health problems. This incident alerted the world to the phenomenon of bioaccumulation. While all mercury compounds are toxic, organomercury compounds are especially dangerous because they are readily absorbed from the skin and can cross the blood–brain barrier to cause irreversible brain damage. Methylmercury and related compounds are thought to bind to the sulfur of cysteinyl residues in proteins. Nickel causes a contact dermatitis in up to 20% of people as result of prolonged contact with coins or jewelry. Industrial processing with highly toxic nickel carbonyl can cause acute poisoning; inhalation of nickel and nickel compounds in these settings can cause respiratory tract cancer. Chromium, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead have a strong affinity for sulfur; in the human body they usually bind, via thiol groups (–SH), to enzymes responsible for controlling the speed of metabolic reactions. The resulting sulfur-metal bonds inhibit the proper functioning of the enzymes involved; human health deteriorates, sometimes fatally.
==== Kidney problems ==== Kidney tests revealed that nine of the ten steroid users developed a condition called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a type of scarring within the kidneys. The kidney damage in the bodybuilders has similarities to that seen in morbidly obese patients, but appears to be even more severe.
A plot of ion abundance as a function of mass-to-charge ratio is called a mass spectrum. It can be produced by a mass spectrometer instrument. The mass spectrum can be used to determine the quantity and mass of atoms and molecules. Tandem mass spectrometry is used to determine molecular structure.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
===== Phase I ===== Phenyl-hydroxy bromazolam, 4-hydroxy bromazolam, α-hydroxy bromazolam, and α-4-dihydroxy bromazolam. The formation of phenyl-hydroxy bromazolam was catalysed by CYP2B6, CYP2C19, and CYP3A4. 4-hydroxy bromazolam, as well as α-hydroxy bromazolam, were formed by CYP2B6, CYP2C19, CYP3A4, and CYP3A5. Additionally, CYP2C9 was found to catalyse the formation of α-hydroxy bromazolam as well. α-4-dihydroxy bromazolam was only found in incubations with CYP3A4.
26 June – Lecturers at Stirling University belonging to the Universities and Colleges Union announce a three-day strike beginning the following day amid claims their wages have been reduced by 50% for participating in a UK-wide marking boycott. 29 June – Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain launches a legal bid to overturn a 1997 ruling on evidence in rape cases that could allow more cases to be prosecuted.
This micelle controlled technique provides for unique opportunities for solving complicated separation problems. Despite the poor efficiency of MLC, it has been successfully used in many applications. The use of MLC in the future appears to be extremely advantages in the areas of physiological fluids, pharmaceuticals, and even inorganic ions. The technique has proven to be superior over ion-pairing and ion-exchange for many applications. As new approaches are developed to combat the poor efficiency of MLC, its application is sure to spread and gain more acceptance.
After Harrison Stanford Martland (1883-1954), chief medical examiner in Essex County, detected the radioactive noble gas radon (a decay product of radium) in the breath of the Radium Girls, he turned to Charles Norris (1867-1935) and Alexander Oscar Gettler (1883-1968). In 1928, Gettler was able to detect a high concentration of radium in the bones of Amelia Maggia, one of the young women, even five years after her death. In 1931, a method was developed for determining radium dosage using a film dosimeter. A standard preparation is irradiated through a hardwood cube onto an X-ray film, which is then blackened. For a long time, the cube minute was an important unit of radium dosage. It was calibrated by ionometric measurements. The radiologists Hermann Georg Holthusen (1886-1971) and Anna Hamann (1894-1969) found a calibration value of 0.045 r/min in 1932/1935. The calibration film receives the y-ray dose of 0.045 r per minute through the wooden cube from the preparation of 13.33 mg. In 1933, the physicist Robley D. Evans (1907-1995) made the first measurements of radon and radium in the excretions of female workers. On this basis, the National Bureau of Standards, the predecessor to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), set the limit for radium at 0.1 microcuries (about 3.7 kilobecquerels) in 1941. A Radium Action Plan 2015-2019 aims to solve the problem of radiological contamination in Switzerland, mainly in the Jura Mountains, due to the use of radium luminous paint in the watch industry until the 1960s.
Mass cytometry is a high-dimensional single-cell analysis technique that integrates flow cytometry with time of flight mass spectrometry. It is used for the determination of the properties of cells (cytometry). In this approach, antibodies are conjugated with isotopically pure elements, and these antibodies are used to label cellular proteins. Cells are nebulized and sent through an argon plasma, which ionizes the metal-conjugated antibodies. The metal signals are then analyzed by a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The approach overcomes limitations of spectral overlap in flow cytometry by utilizing discrete isotopes as a reporter system instead of traditional fluorophores which have broad emission spectra.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
It is a synthetic seven-amino-acid peptide built from the ACTH(4-7) sequence plus a Pro-Gly-Pro tail. It belongs to the family of short ACTH fragments studied for nervous-system effects. Its backbone contains only standard amino acids.
It contains the 4-7 fragment of adrenocorticotropic hormone extended at the C terminus. That truncation removes the region associated with steroidogenic activity. The design intent was to keep neurotrophic properties while avoiding full hormonal effects.
No natural source of the intact heptapeptide is known. It is produced by solid-phase peptide synthesis. Some related ACTH fragments arise as hormone processing products, but the Pro-Gly-Pro extension is a designed addition rather than a natural sequence.
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.