Anxiety
Overview
Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental health conditions globally. Selank, a Russian-developed anxiolytic peptide, offers a compelling alternative to benzodiazepines: comparable anxiolytic efficacy without sedation, dependence, or cognitive impairment. Peptide approaches to anxiety generally avoid the tolerance and withdrawal problems of conventional pharmacotherapy and may have neuroprotective co-benefits.
Recommended Peptides
- Selank – primary peptide for anxiety; synthetic analogue of the endogenous immunomodulatory peptide tuftsin; approved in Russia for anxiety and PTSD treatment; modulates GABA-A receptors and reduces inflammatory cytokines; notably does not cause sedation unlike benzodiazepines; also improves memory and cognitive clarity
- Oxytocin – intranasal oxytocin reduces social anxiety, attenuates amygdala reactivity to threat, and promotes feelings of trust and calm; most useful for social anxiety and stress response modulation
- DSIP – delta sleep-inducing peptide; reduces stress-related anxiety and promotes sleep; can break cycles of anxiety-driven insomnia
Protocols
Related Conditions
Research Summary
Selank is approved in Russia for generalized anxiety disorder and acts as a positive allosteric modulator of GABA-A receptors (PMID-30255741). GABAergic gene expression profiling shows Selank modulates 45 neurotransmission genes (PMID-26924987). Human fMRI (n=52) confirmed Selank modulates amygdala-temporal cortex functional connectivity (PMID-32342318). Selank also provides immunomodulatory effects in anxiety patients, suppressing IL-6 (PMID-18577961).
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#condition #neurological