NA Semax Amidate

What it is

Semax, the parent compound, is a lab made piece of a natural hormone fragment called ACTH(4-10). NA Semax Amidate adds two chemical changes to that structure, called acetylation and amidation, changes reported to slow how quickly the molecule breaks down in the body compared with plain Semax.

All three of the specific studies located in the record reviewed for this entry tested Semax, the original unmodified peptide, rather than the acetylated, amidated version. No citation identified here tests NA Semax Amidate on its own, so any claim about this specific modified form depends on an assumption that it behaves like its parent compound, an assumption the cited studies do not test directly.

How it is studied

Semax, the parent compound, has been studied in small human trials using a nose spray form, including brain scanning work using resting state functional MRI and a larger trial in people recovering from an ischemic stroke, along with a genome-wide gene activity study in rats after an induced stroke. None of the studies located specifically tested the acetylated, amidated derivative.

What studies report

• A resting state fMRI study in 24 healthy volunteers reported a larger volume in one part of a brain network tied to memory and information processing, called the default mode network, in the medial frontal cortex of people given a single application of intranasal Semax compared with those given placebo. [1]
• A trial in 110 people recovering from an ischemic stroke reported that two ten day courses of Semax raised blood levels of a nerve growth protein called BDNF, and that patients given Semax showed faster improvement on a standard measure of daily function regardless of when rehabilitation started. [2]
• A genome-wide gene activity study in rats with an induced stroke reported that Semax changed the activity of genes tied to immune cell activity and to the growth and function of blood vessels in the injured brain tissue. [3]

What is not known

Whether the acetylated, amidated form named in this entry behaves the same way in the body as the parent Semax molecule that the cited studies actually tested has not been directly examined. The fMRI study is small and used a single application, and while the stroke trial had a more substantial number of participants, it measured functional recovery rather than a lasting change in brain structure or long term outcome. No study identified here gave the modified compound itself to a living person and measured an outcome.

Regulatory status

Neither Semax nor its acetylated, amidated derivative, NA Semax Amidate, is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for any use. The record reviewed for this entry lists no separate regulatory approval for the modified derivative in any jurisdiction.