PreclinicalShort bioregulator peptide (thymus)

Vilon

Lys-Glu (KE), lysylglutamic acid

Common dose: ~100–200 mcg daily for 10–20 days
Cycle: 2-week course, about every 6 months
Vial sizes: 20 mg
Typical draw: 3 units20 mg with 3 mL, 200 mcg

A synthetic two-amino-acid peptide (Lys-Glu) from the Russian bioregulator family, described by its developers as an immune modulator and an active part of the calf thymus extract Thymalin. It has been studied mostly in cells and rodents.

Evidence. A few small Russian reports from the developers’ group and its partners, in type 1 diabetes and in older adults with bowel cancer, describe benefits; their abstracts give no group sizes, doses or numbers, and none has been repeated independently. Lifespan, tumor and gene-activity claims rest on mouse, rat and cell studies, and one mouse study found more breast tumors. It isn’t registered as a medicine anywhere.

What it’s used for

None of these uses is approved. Uses tested in people come first, then claims that rest on animal studies or user reports.

Type 1 diabetes: clotting and insulin needs: TrialUnproven: two small Russian reports said adding it to standard care improved clotting markers and cut insulin needs in most patients; the abstracts give no patient numbers, doses or comparison groups.
Colon and rectal cancer, alongside treatment: TrialUnproven: a preliminary Russian report in older adults with stage III bowel cancer recommends it to improve 2-year survival and cut complications, but its abstract gives no numbers or comparison.
Slowing aging and extending lifespan: AnimalUnproven in people: in a 2000 study of female mice injected under the skin from 6 months of age, its developers reported longer lives, more stamina and fewer spontaneous tumors.
Cancer prevention: AnimalUnproven and mixed: it cut chemically induced bladder tumors in rats (56% vs 75.5%), but in mice bred to get breast cancer, more treated mice had multiple tumors.
Immune support: AnimalUnproven: in cell cultures it raised interleukin-2 gene activity and pushed thymus cells toward helper T cells; the one human report on immune cells, in diabetes, gave no numbers.
Skin aging: AnimalUnproven: in aging human skin cells grown in a dish it lowered inflammatory signals and raised sirtuin-6, a protein linked to DNA repair. Not tested on skin in people.

Trial: tested in people, with the result. Animal: cell or animal studies only.

Every compound’s uses, by body system: evidence map, and by condition: conditions A to Z.

Status

Approval: Not approved as a drug in the US or EU, and not listed as a registered medicine in Russian drug references. Its developers say the same dipeptide is an active component of Thymalin, a registered Russian thymus extract.
US compounding: Never nominated for US compounding: it isn’t on FDA’s 503A or 503B bulk lists or their Category 1, 2 or 3 lists (503A categories updated May 14, 2026).
European Union: No marketing authorization; Vilon itself isn’t registered as a medicine anywhere.
United Kingdom: No marketing authorization (MHRA).
Canada: No marketing authorization; no Vilon product is listed in Health Canada’s Drug Product Database.
Australia: No marketing authorization. Vilon isn’t named in the Poisons Standard (June 2026).
Sport (WADA 2026): Likely banned in sportNot named on WADA’s 2026 list, and not approved for therapeutic use anywhere, so its S0 rule on non-approved substances applies: banned at all times.

Category 2 is FDA’s list of bulk substances that may present significant safety risks in compounding. The 503A bulks list adds substances that pharmacies may compound with. Advisory committee votes are advice; FDA makes the final decision. Sport status follows the WADA Prohibited List in force since January 1, 2026; athletes should confirm with their anti-doping organization. Checked October 5, 2026. Status outside the US checked October 7, 2026 against EMA, MHRA, Health Canada and TGA records. By country: EU, UK, Canada, Australia. Status of every compound.

How it works

Vilon is a two-amino-acid peptide (lysine and glutamic acid) with no identified receptor. In its developers’ cell studies it raised activity of the gene for interleukin-2, a signal that drives T-cell growth, and loosened tightly packed chromatin, DNA’s protein packaging, in white blood cells from people aged 75–88. In a 2002 mouse study it changed the activity of 36 of about 15,000 heart genes tested. The group proposes it binds DNA directly, based on computer modeling.

AnimalMainly from cell and animal studies; not shown in people.

Not known

No target has been confirmed, nothing is known about how much reaches the blood or tissues after an injection or capsule, and whether the cell and rodent effects happen in people is untested.

Protocol

Community

About 100–200 mcg injected once daily for 10–20 days is most cited; other guides range from tens of micrograms to 1–2 mg a day, and one lists 10 mg.

Frequency: Once daily during a course
Route: Subcutaneous injection (community); injected under the skin in rodent studies
Cycle: 10–20 day courses, repeated 1–3 times a year.
2-week course, about every 6 months, shown over 26 weeks

Common protocols

The ways Vilon is most often run, each tagged with where it comes from.

Standard course

Community

Dose: 100–200 mcg
How often: Once daily
How long: 10–20 days

Most cited in guides. Courses are repeated every 4–12 months, depending on the guide.

Draw 1.5–3 units20 mg + 3 mL

Higher-dose guides

Community

Dose: 1–2 mg
How often: Once daily
How long: 10–20 days

A minority of guides use about 10 times more, and one lists 10 mg a day. No human dose-finding data exist for any dose.

Draw 15–30 units20 mg + 3 mL

Taking it

Where it goes

Subcutaneous, rotating daily between the abdomen, thigh and upper arm. The rodent studies injected it under the skin; the human report abstracts don’t give a route.

If you miss a dose

No published guidance. Resume the next day and don’t double up.

Missed doses for every compound

What to expect

During a course
Guides don’t describe any noticeable effect; the claimed immune benefits rest on cell and rodent studies.
Community
Over a course of treatment
In small Russian reports in type 1 diabetes, clotting markers improved and most patients needed less insulin. The abstracts give no numbers or timing.
Trial

Side effects and what to do

Injection-site redness or soreness

Usually mild; rotate sites. Spreading redness, heat or pus means see a doctor.

No side-effect data from the human reports

The Russian abstracts don’t describe side effects; absence of reports isn’t proof of safety.

Lower insulin needs (reported in type 1 diabetes)

Check blood sugar more often when using insulin or other glucose-lowering drugs.

Allergic reaction (possible with any injected peptide)

Stop and get emergency care for hives, facial swelling or trouble breathing.

Stop and get medical help

Stop and get medical help for hives, swelling of the face or throat, trouble breathing, or a hot, spreading or pus-filled injection site.

Can it cause …?

There are almost no human safety data for Vilon, so most of these can’t be answered either way.

Low or high blood sugar: TrialA small Russian report said most people with type 1 diabetes needed less insulin while taking it; the abstract doesn’t mention low blood sugar.
Cancer risk: AnimalUnknown in people. In rodents it cut some chemically induced tumors, but in mice bred to get breast cancer, more treated mice had two or more tumors (95% vs 75%).
TirednessHeadacheNausea or vomitingDiarrhea or constipationDizzinessTrouble sleepingHair lossAcne, rash or skin changesWater retention or swellingJoint or muscle painAnxiety, low mood or irritabilityFast heartbeat or blood pressure changesMore hungerLiver strainKidney problems: No dataNo useful human safety data: the few small Russian reports on Vilon gave no details of side effects.

Trial: reported in human studies. Animal: seen only in animal studies. No data: no human safety data. A side effect that hasn’t been reported can still happen, especially with long or high-dose use. Any of these across every compound: the side-effect finder.

Who should avoid it

No product label covers Vilon, so these come from human studies and from precautions based on how it works. Most important first.

Anyone with active or past cancer: PrecautionRodent results are mixed: fewer chemically induced bladder and other tumors, but in mice bred to develop breast cancer, 95% of treated mice had two or more tumors vs 75% of controls.
People on insulin or other diabetes drugs: TrialA small Russian report said most people with type 1 diabetes needed less insulin while taking it, so blood sugar could fall if doses aren’t adjusted.
People on blood thinners or with bleeding disorders: PrecautionRussian reports in diabetes describe higher natural anti-clotting proteins and faster clot breakdown. What this means for bleeding risk, or alongside blood thinners, hasn’t been studied.
Anyone relying on product quality: PrecautionIt is not an approved drug, so vials and capsules have no regulated standard for identity, purity or sterility.
Pregnancy or breastfeeding: PrecautionNo human safety data exist.

Interactions

No interaction studies have been published in people, and no product label lists any. In one mouse cancer study, giving it at the same time as the chemotherapy drug cyclophosphamide lowered survival, and the authors advised against giving them together.

Trial: seen in human studies, or a group those studies left out. Precaution: follows from how it works or from a related drug, and hasn’t been tested. This isn’t a complete list: a pharmacist or doctor can check a specific medicine or condition. Every documented interaction, by medicine: drug interactions.

Special situations

What’s known about pregnancy, breastfeeding, kidney and liver problems, age and surgery. Where nothing has been studied, the row says so.

Pregnancy: PrecautionNo human data and no published reproductive studies.
Breastfeeding: PrecautionNo human data; it isn’t known whether it passes into breast milk.
Kidney problems: PrecautionNot studied in people with kidney disease; how the body clears it is unknown.
Liver problems: PrecautionNot studied in people with liver disease; how the body breaks it down is unknown.
Older adults: TrialRussian reports included older adults with type 1 diabetes or bowel cancer. In diabetes, its effect on clotting was weaker in older people with severe disease; no safety details were given.
Children and teens: PrecautionNot approved for any age. The Russian report abstracts don’t say whether anyone under 18 took part.
Surgery and anesthesia: PrecautionNo data. Russian reports describe effects on clotting in diabetes, so tell the surgical team about it, as with any injected compound.

Trial: from human studies. Precaution: not studied, so the caution follows from how it works or from a related drug. Ages are given as approved or studied; this site never gives doses for children. Across every compound: pregnancy, breastfeeding, kidney disease, liver disease, older adults and surgery.

Tracking and pairing

Worth tracking

Blood glucose, if on insulin or other diabetes drugs

Often paired with

Epithalon
Studied alongside it by the same Russian group. Tested together only in mice, where the pair changed heart gene activity; never tested together in people.

Human studies

3 key published human studies, with how many people took part. Animal studies aren’t listed here.

2006

In type 1 diabetes, adding Vilon to usual care reduced or removed signs of low-grade clotting inside blood vessels; the effect was weaker in older people with severe disease.

Design
Clinical study listed as randomized in PubMed, though the abstract doesn’t describe assignment or a control group (Russian)
Dose
Not stated in abstract
Length
Not stated in abstract

Kuznik et al., Adv Gerontol 2006 (Russian), PMID 17152731
2007

Added to standard therapy, it raised natural anti-clotting proteins and clot breakdown, shifted immune cell counts and lowered insulin needs in most patients; no numbers given.

Design
Clinical study in older adults with type 1 diabetes, controls not described (Russian)
Dose
Not stated in abstract
Length
Not stated in abstract

Kuznik et al., Adv Gerontol 2007 (Russian), PMID 18306698
2005

Authors recommend adding Vilon to surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy to improve 2-year survival and cut complications; the abstract gives no numbers.

Design
Preliminary report in older adults with stage III colon or rectal cancer, listed as a controlled trial in PubMed (Russian)
Dose
Not stated in abstract
Length
Not stated in abstract

Ias’kevich et al., Adv Gerontol 2005 (Russian), PMID 16075684

All human studies on Vial Guide

Trials under way

No ongoing trial of Vilon is registered, and none has finished recently without publishing its results. Checked on ClinicalTrials.gov, October 7, 2026. Every compound: trials under way.

Limits of the evidence

Human data are a few small Russian reports from the developers’ circle, in type 1 diabetes and in older people with bowel cancer; their abstracts give no group sizes, doses, blinding or side effects, and none has been repeated independently. Lifespan, tumor and gene-activity findings come from mice, rats and cell cultures. Nothing is known about the injected doses people use, how much is absorbed, long-term safety or product purity.

Mixing your vial

Vial	Water	Common dose	Draw	Strength	Action
20 mg	3 mL	200 mcg	3 units (0.03 mL)	6.667 mg/mL

20 mg vials are the usual size. With 3 mL of water, 200 mcg is a 3-unit draw and 2 mg is 30 units. Some sellers also offer capsules; no published human study tested them.

Dose chart

20 mg vial

Syringe units for common doses at different water volumes. Select a cell to open it in the calculator.

Dose	Water added
Dose	1 mL	2 mL	3 mL
100 mcg
200 mcg
300 mcg
500 mcg
600 mcg
1,000 mcg
2,000 mcg

U-100 insulin syringe: 100 units is 1 mL. Draws over 100 units show in mL. Faded values are under 2 units, which is hard to measure. Check that your vial holds the larger volumes.

Datasheet

Half-life: No reliable value has been published.
Type: Peptide, 2 amino acids
Molecular weight: 275.3 g/mol
Formula: C₁₁H₂₁N₃O₅
Sequence: KE
Storage before use: Freezer (−20 °C) for long-term storage; fridge is fine for short periods.
After mixing or opening: Refrigerate (2–8 °C) after mixing and use within about 4 weeks.

Molecule: PubChem CID 7010502 (L-lysyl-L-glutamic acid, synonym Vilon); FDA UNII H34V7IM5ML
Storage: Community Common practice for research peptide vials; no approved product label exists

Every compound side by side: the half-life chart and the storage chart.

Identifiers

CAS number: 45234-02-4
UNII (FDA): H34V7IM5ML
PubChem CID: 7010502
ATC code: None assigned
Development codes: AB-0 (a MeSH synonym); also written KE or Lys-Glu
Brand names: None; Vilon itself isn’t registered as a medicine anywhere
First described: Described in 1997 by Vladimir Khavinson’s St Petersburg group as a new synthetic immune-modulating dipeptide.

Every compound’s numbers: the identifiers table.

Product form and quality

A two-amino-acid peptide (Lys-Glu), smaller than most research peptides; 20 mg vials are the usual size, and some sellers offer capsules. It differs from Thymogen (Glu-Trp), another dipeptide from the same group. Nothing regulates the identity, purity or sterility of these products.

Cautions

Human data are a few small Russian reports whose abstracts give no numbers, doses or side effects.
Rodent cancer results are mixed: in mice bred to get breast cancer, more treated mice had multiple tumors.
A Russian report said people with type 1 diabetes needed less insulin while taking it.
Community doses vary more than 100-fold.

Questions

What is Vilon?

How does Vilon work?

Is Vilon FDA-approved?

Not approved as a drug in the US or EU, and not listed as a registered medicine in Russian drug references. Its developers say the same dipeptide is an active component of Thymalin, a registered Russian thymus extract. Never nominated for US compounding: it isn’t on FDA’s 503A or 503B bulk lists or their Category 1, 2 or 3 lists (503A categories updated May 14, 2026).

What is the usual Vilon dose?

From community reports, not established: About 100–200 mcg injected once daily for 10–20 days is most cited; other guides range from tens of micrograms to 1–2 mg a day, and one lists 10 mg. These are the amounts sources reference, not recommendations.

How much water do I mix Vilon with?

There’s no single right amount, because the water only sets the strength. With 3 mL of bacteriostatic water in a 20 mg vial, the strength is 6.667 mg/mL, so 200 mcg is 3 units on a U-100 insulin syringe. More water makes small doses easier to measure. The dose chart above shows other volumes.

Who should avoid Vilon?

No product label covers Vilon, so these come from human studies and from precautions based on how it works. Anyone with active or past cancer: Rodent results are mixed: fewer chemically induced bladder and other tumors, but in mice bred to develop breast cancer, 95% of treated mice had two or more tumors vs 75% of controls. People on insulin or other diabetes drugs: A small Russian report said most people with type 1 diabetes needed less insulin while taking it, so blood sugar could fall if doses aren’t adjusted. People on blood thinners or with bleeding disorders: Russian reports in diabetes describe higher natural anti-clotting proteins and faster clot breakdown. What this means for bleeding risk, or alongside blood thinners, hasn’t been studied. The “Who should avoid it” section lists 2 more groups.

How should Vilon be stored?

Before mixing: Freezer (−20 °C) for long-term storage; fridge is fine for short periods. Refrigerate (2–8 °C) after mixing and use within about 4 weeks. This is common practice; no product label covers it.

Is Vilon banned in sport?

Probably. Not named on WADA’s 2026 list, and not approved for therapeutic use anywhere, so its S0 rule on non-approved substances applies: banned at all times.

Has Vilon been studied in people?

Yes. The human studies section lists 3 published studies. Among them, from 2006: In type 1 diabetes, adding Vilon to usual care reduced or removed signs of low-grade clotting inside blood vessels; the effect was weaker in older people with severe disease.

How long has Vilon been studied in people?

No data Unknown: the Russian human report abstracts give neither group sizes nor treatment length.

Does Vilon come in other forms, like a pill or nasal spray?

Animal Rodent studies injected it under the skin, the usual community route. The human report abstracts don’t state a route; capsules are also sold, with no published human data.

Can you drink alcohol while taking Vilon?

No study No data. No study has looked at Vilon and alcohol together.

Can Vilon be taken with semaglutide or tirzepatide?

No study No study has combined them. No interaction is known, but none has been looked for.

What happens if you take too much Vilon?

No data There’s no label and no overdose data. Call Poison Help (1-800-222-1222), or emergency services for severe symptoms.

Sources

Morozov and Khavinson, natural and synthetic thymic peptides, including Vilon (Int J Immunopharmacol 1997) PMID 9637345
Kuznik et al., Vilon and blood clotting in type 1 diabetes (Adv Gerontol 2006, in Russian) PMID 17152731
Kuznik et al., Vilon, immunity and clotting in older adults with diabetes (Adv Gerontol 2007, in Russian) PMID 18306698
Khavinson et al., Vilon, biological age and lifespan in mice (Bull Exp Biol Med 2000) PMID 11140587
Alimova et al., Epitalon and Vilon in mice prone to breast cancer (Vopr Onkol 2002, in Russian) PMID 12101568

For the protocol details

Anisimov et al., Vilon and Epithalon and gene expression in mouse heart (Bull Exp Biol Med 2002) PMID 12360356

For how it works, who should avoid it and the limits of the evidence

Khavinson et al., Lys-Glu and interleukin-2 gene expression in lymphocytes (Bull Exp Biol Med 2000) PMID 11177276
Khavinson et al., short peptides and lymphocyte chromatin in people aged 75–88 (Bull Exp Biol Med 2004) PMID 15085253
Barykina et al., Vilon with cyclophosphamide in mice with lung carcinoma (Adv Gerontol 2003, in Russian) PMID 14743610

For uses, the side-effect questions, special situations, trials, identifiers and status outside the US

Ias’kevich et al., a peptide bioregulator in older adults with bowel cancer (Adv Gerontol 2005, in Russian) PMID 16075684
Pliss et al., Vilon and chemically induced bladder tumors in rats (Bull Exp Biol Med 2001) PMID 11586406
Sevostianova et al., Vilon and an analogue in human and rat thymus cell cultures (Bull Exp Biol Med 2013) PMID 23486604
Fridman et al., KE and AED peptides in aging human skin fibroblasts (Bull Exp Biol Med 2020) PMID 33231794
Linkova et al., KE and EW dipeptides as active substances of Thymalin (Int J Mol Sci 2023) PMID 37686182
PubChem CID 7010502, FDA GSRS record (UNII H34V7IM5ML) and NLM MeSH record for lysylglutamic acid
ClinicalTrials.gov and Health Canada Drug Product Database searches (October 8, 2026); Australian Poisons Standard, June 2026

Doses tagged Community come from public dosing guides and user reports, checked against at least two of them. Those sites aren’t named here because many of them sell peptides or earn commissions on them.

By Vial Guide editorsLast reviewed October 7, 2026

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