Peptide Therapy Foundations: Neuroprotection

This course examines the peptides studied for their effects on the brain: the regulatory peptides, neurotrophic preparations, and growth-factor analogs explored for cognition, mood, and neural resilience. It is written for clinicians who want a grounded understanding of how each agent is thought to act, what the evidence shows, and how cautiously each should be read given the state of the research.

The lessons span several mechanistic families. Selank and Semax are short regulatory peptides with effects on neurotransmitter and neurotrophic signaling. Cerebrolysin and Cortexin are neurotrophic preparations studied in neurological recovery. Dihexa, P21, PE22-28, VIP, and IGF-1 LR3 each engage distinct pathways, from growth-factor signaling to synaptogenesis. The maturity of the evidence varies widely across the group, and the lessons say so plainly.

Each lesson follows the same clinical lens: what the agent is, how it works, what the evidence shows, and what a practitioner weighs before applying it. Together they map the neuroprotective peptides as a group so you can reason about any single agent against the others, and against the limits of the data.

• Distinguish regulatory peptides, neurotrophic preparations, and growth-factor analogs
• Describe the proposed mechanisms of the major neuroprotective peptides
• Weigh the strength and limits of the evidence behind each agent
• Apply a consistent clinical framework when evaluating a neuroprotective peptide