Vesugen

The study reports that peptide KED (Lys-Glu-Asp, marketed as Vesugen) normalized expression of endothelin-1, a vasoconstrictor upregulated in vascular endothelium during atherosclerosis and restenosis, and restored intercellular communication via connexin expression. KED also increased expression of sirtuin-1, a deacetylase implicated in DNA repair, which the authors interpret as the basis of its vasoprotective and geroprotective action on the vessel wall.

In this Russian study, the Vesugen peptide appeared to rebalance signaling molecules in blood-vessel lining cells that go haywire in atherosclerosis and after artery-narrowing (restenosis). It brought a blood-vessel-tightening protein back toward normal levels and switched on a repair-related gene, which the authors suggest could help protect aging arteries. It is lab research from the peptide's originating group.

Vesugen and the peptide D-7 increased expression of the proliferation marker Ki-67, which normally declines with age, in organotypic and dissociated cultures of vascular endothelial cells from both young and old animals. In silico molecular docking indicated both peptides contact the core promoter region of the MKI67 gene, supporting a proposed epigenetic mechanism of Ki-67 gene regulation.

Researchers grew blood-vessel lining cells from young and old animals and found that Vesugen boosted a marker of cell renewal that usually fades with age. Computer modeling suggested the peptide may physically bind near the gene controlling that marker, hinting it could switch aging-related genes back on in vessel cells. This is cell-culture and modeling work, not a human trial.

This small clinical report evaluated the vasoactive tripeptide Vesugen in 41 elderly patients with chronic lower-limb arterial insufficiency and associated vasculogenic erectile dysfunction. After treatment, blood flow through the main penile artery improved significantly by both clinical assessment and objective vascular measurements, which the authors attribute to Vesugen's action on the vascular wall. The study was small and uncontrolled.

In this small study of older men with poor circulation, the Vesugen peptide was associated with measurably better blood flow through a key artery. The authors present it as evidence that the peptide can help aging, narrowed blood vessels, though the study was small, uncontrolled, and from the peptide's originating group.