Vilon (Lys-Glu) Peptide: Research Overview and Evidence Gaps

Vilon is the dipeptide L-lysyl-L-glutamic acid (Lys-Glu, “KE”), designed by Vladimir Khavinson’s group in St. Petersburg in the 1990s. The literature is small, almost entirely from that group, and made up of cell work, rodent work and a few small Russian clinical reports. We found no placebo-controlled trial, no registered trial and no independent replication. In one mouse experiment, vilon was linked to more tumours, not fewer.

Key points

• PubMed’s title-and-abstract search for “vilon” returned 62 records (2026-11-09). Most are 1997-2008 papers from the Khavinson network, with a few later cell studies [1].
• Lys-Glu is a synthetic dipeptide (C11H21N3O5, molecular weight 275.30). It is described as a thymus-peptide analogue, not as something isolated from thymus [2][3][4].
• The best-known animal claim is longer lifespan in CBA mice (2000). The same group’s collaborators later reported more mammary tumours in vilon-treated HER-2/neu mice (2002) [5][6].
• We could not find vilon in FDA’s two compounding pages or in an RLS search. We could not run the official Russian register query [7][8][9].
• Human data are a handful of small Russian reports from 2005-2007 with no stated blinding.

What vilon is and where it comes from

The structure is two amino acids, lysine and glutamic acid, which PubChem records as formula C11H21N3O5 [2]. It is the shortest of the “bioregulator” peptides; the others are tri- and tetrapeptides such as epitalon, vesugen and pinealon. The family is covered in our Khavinson bioregulator evidence review.

The thymus link is a design lineage. A 1997 review by Morozov and Khavinson says thymalin, an extract from calf thymus, was in clinical use; a dipeptide, Glu-Trp, was isolated from it and became thymogen; and “a novel immunomodulatory dipeptide was synthesized and termed Vilon” [3]. The Russian patent RU2080120C1 (filed 1994-07-19, granted 1997-05-27; inventors Khavinson, Seryi and Malinin; assignee the Russian-American company Neofarm) claims L-Lys-L-Glu as an immunomodulating agent and calls the compound already known as a peptide-synthesis component [4]. Its data compare vilon with thymogen in guinea-pig and mouse cells and in blood lymphocytes from 18 patients with purulent lung disease. These are the applicants’ own results [4]. We found no source showing that Lys-Glu was isolated from thymus tissue.

The group’s later theory is that such short peptides enter the nucleus, bind DNA and alter gene expression. For vilon, the support is molecular modelling and cell-culture expression data from the group itself (see 2023 below) [10].

Every study we could open

“K” marks Khavinson as an author on the PubMed record. Sizes are what the abstracts give; most do not state group sizes. Many are in Russian-language journals and we read abstracts only.

Cells

Year	System	Finding	Group
2004	Lymphocytes from old people (75-88 y), culture [11]	Less condensed chromatin, reactivated ribosomal genes	Tbilisi plus Khavinson (K)
2004-2006	Same design, several peptides [12][13]	Similar chromatin changes; vilon did not change pericentromeric heterochromatin	K; Tbilisi
2006	Mouse macrophages [14]	Opposite effects on lymphocyte-activating factors in young and old mice	St. Petersburg institute
2013	Human and animal thymus cell cultures [15]	An analogue peptide was reported to push T-cell precursors to helper and cytotoxic types; vilon’s own result is not in the abstract	K
2020	Human pineal and thymic cell cultures [16]	KE: mitochondrial staining area up 1.5-fold, ribosomal protein L7A down 15% in ageing thymic cells	No K; affiliations not checked
2022	THP-1 human leukaemia monocytes [17]	Five Khavinson-type peptides altered proliferative signalling; no vilon-specific figure in the abstract	University of Chieti, Italy plus K
2023	Human mesenchymal stem cells [10]	SIRT1 expression up 6-fold, PARP1 and PARP2 down about 2-fold; DNA-binding by docking	K
2023	Lymphocytes of people aged 75-88 y [18]	Four peptides, including vilon, linked to “deheterochromatinization”	Tbilisi, no K

Animals

Year	System	Finding	Group
2000	Female CBA mice, lifelong [5]	Longer lifespan, fewer spontaneous tumours, more endurance; “no unfavourable effects”; no sizes in abstract	K, Anisimov
2001	Rats, bladder carcinogen [19]	Tumours in 56% treated vs 75.5% controls	K
2002	HER-2/neu transgenic mice [6]	More mammary cancer, shorter latency, more tumours than controls (p<0.05)	Petrov Institute plus K
2002	Same model, Russian report [20]	Two or more tumours per animal in 95% (vilon) vs 75% (control); lung metastases 2.6 times more often than with epitalon	Petrov Institute
2002	Mouse heart, 15,247 cDNA clones [21]	Vilon changed 36 clones more than 2-fold	K, Anisimov
2002	Rats, emotional stress [22]	Better open-field behaviour, less adrenal enlargement	K
2005	Mice, 1,2-dimethylhydrazine [23]	Tumours in 14.3% vs 60% of survivors to first detection	K
2005	Rats after mercury and low-dose radiation [24]	Lymphocyte count normalised; less morbidity over 15 months	K
2005	Rats, chronic renal failure [25]	Lower serum TGF-beta1 at 2 months	St. Petersburg
2006	Old male rats [26]	Changed sexual-function and hormone measures	Not K
2015	Rats, experimental endometriosis [27]	Surgery plus vilon called “promising” in a combined design	Ivanovo institute, not K

Humans

Year	Population	Finding	Group
2005	Elderly stage III colon and rectal cancer patients, added to radical treatment [28]	“Preliminary” results said to support higher 2-year survival; sizes and controls not in abstract	K
2006	Type 1 diabetes, “thymomimetic” add-on [29]	Less intravascular coagulation; weaker effect in elderly with severe disease	Kuznik, not K
2007	Elderly type 1 diabetes [30]	Better coagulation and fibrinolysis markers; insulin dose reduced “in most cases”; immune markers normalised	Kuznik, not K
2013	Review of authors’ clinical results [31]	Summarises thymalin, thymogen, vilon and others	K

None of the human abstracts reports blinding, a placebo arm or a size. We did not open the full texts. The 2020 dental-disease review (Pinelis, Kuznik) was not read beyond its title [1].

Anyone outside the network?

Mostly no. The papers without Khavinson as an author come from Tbilisi State University (chromatin; Khavinson co-authored the 2004 paper), the Ivanovo maternity institute, and Kuznik’s clinical group, whose ties to Khavinson’s institute we did not check. The Italian THP-1 study includes Khavinson and is funded by the University of Chieti and Italy’s education ministry [17]. We found no independent lab outside Russia, Georgia and Italy that tested vilon. We did not search Russian databases such as eLibrary.

Regulatory status

• United States (2026-11-09). Vilon is not named on FDA’s page on bulk substances that may present significant safety risks (content current 2026-04-22), which does list epitalon among withdrawn nominations [7]. The 503A bulks page (current 2026-05-14) names no substances in the text we could read, so its silence says little [8]. We did not search Drugs@FDA or DailyMed. We found no FDA approval or listing.
• Russia. Searching RLS (rlsnet.ru) for “вилон” returned no entries on 2026-11-09 [9]. The official state register at grls.minzdrav.gov.ru opened, but we could not run a query through it, so Russian status is unverified.
• EU, UK, Germany: not checked.
• ClinicalTrials.gov (2026-11-09). Searches for “vilon”, “Lys-Glu”, “KE peptide” and “thymogen” returned only unrelated trials [32].
• “Research use only” is a seller’s label meaning the product is sold as a laboratory chemical, outside medicine and supplement rules. It is not an approval and implies no purity check. Vials with that label appear in the post discussed below [33]. Prices are compared on our vilon page.

Risks and unknowns

The 2000 mouse paper concluded chronic administration was safe, and the other rodent abstracts we read report no harm to treated animals [5]. Against that, the 2002 Int J Cancer study found more mammary cancer in vilon-treated HER-2/neu mice, with a shorter latency (p<0.05) [6]. The Russian report on the same experiment gives the same direction [20]. That is one transgenic strain, but it is the only experiment in the set in which vilon sat on the unfavourable side, and the group’s lifespan and tumour-reduction papers do not discuss it. Cancer patients’ results from 2005 are preliminary [28].

The diabetes reports say insulin needs fell in most vilon patients, which means a medicine that changes glucose handling could in principle interact; the reports do not examine it [30]. We found no pharmacokinetics, no human safety study, no data on pregnancy, children, people with cancer histories, drug interactions, immunogenicity or product purity. Whether a dipeptide reaches the nucleus at body concentrations is undemonstrated.

What @Hoostethics claims

On 2026-10-15, @Hoostethics posted a tier list titled “ranking the most cope supplements” [33]. Vilon (an “OP Labs” vial image) sits in “pretty cope”, the third of five tiers, next to sea moss and oxiracetam. Vesugen is in the lowest, “somewhat cope”. The post gives no reasons.

Verdict: partly supported. If “cope” means that a benefit is unproven, the evidence agrees: nothing here shows an effect in people beyond small, unblinded, non-independent reports. The tier ranking itself, including placing vilon above vesugen, is an opinion no study can test. See our cope-supplements tier-list check.

Frequently asked questions

What is vilon? A synthetic dipeptide of lysine and glutamic acid, developed by Khavinson’s group and patented in Russia in 1997 as an immunomodulator [3][4].

Has vilon been tested in humans? In a few small Russian reports from 2005-2007, in cancer and type 1 diabetes patients, with no stated blinding or sizes [28][29][30]. No registered trial exists [32].

Does vilon extend lifespan? A 2000 study reported longer lifespan in CBA mice [5]. No human or independent animal data exist, and a 2002 study in cancer-prone mice found more tumours [6].

Is vilon approved anywhere? We found no approval. It is not on the two FDA compounding pages, and an RLS search found nothing. EU, UK and German registers were not checked [7][8][9].

Sources

1. NCBI PubMed, search vilon[Title/Abstract], 62 records (run 2026-11-09; authors and affiliations read from the PubMed XML). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=vilon%5Btiab%5D
2. NCBI PubChem, compound CID 7010502 (Lys-Glu), properties (read 2026-11-09). https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/7010502
3. Morozov VG, Khavinson VKh, “Natural and synthetic thymic peptides as therapeutics for immune dysfunction,” Int J Immunopharmacol (1997). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9637345/
4. Google Patents, RU2080120C1, “Agent with immunomodulating activity” (filed 1994-07-19, granted 1997-05-27). https://patents.google.com/patent/RU2080120C1/ru
5. Khavinson VKh, Anisimov VN, Zavarzina NY, et al., “Effect of vilon on biological age and lifespan in mice,” Bull Exp Biol Med (2000). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11140587/ (companion record: Dokl Biol Sci 2000, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10944717/, no abstract)
6. Anisimov VN, Khavinson VK, Provinciali M, et al., “Inhibitory effect of the peptide epitalon on the development of spontaneous mammary tumors in HER-2/neu transgenic mice,” Int J Cancer (2002). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12209581/
7. FDA, “Certain Bulk Drug Substances for Use in Compounding that May Present Significant Safety Risks” (content current 2026-04-22). https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/certain-bulk-drug-substances-use-compounding-may-present-significant-safety-risks
8. FDA, “Bulk Drug Substances Used in Compounding Under Section 503A of the FDCA” (content current 2026-05-14). https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/bulk-drug-substances-used-compounding-under-section-503a-fdc-act
9. RLS (rlsnet.ru), site search “вилон”, no entries (run 2026-11-09). https://www.rlsnet.ru/search_result.htm?word=%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%BD ; official register homepage opened: https://grls.minzdrav.gov.ru/
10. Khavinson V, Linkova N, Ashapkin V, et al., “KE peptide regulates SIRT1, PARP1, PARP2 gene expression and protein synthesis in human mesenchymal stem cells aging,” Adv Gerontol (2023). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37782636/
11. Lezhava T, Khavinson V, Monaselidze J, et al., “Bioregulator Vilon-induced reactivation of chromatin in cultured lymphocytes from old people,” Biogerontology (2004). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15105581/
12. Khavinson VKh, Lezhava TA, Malinin VV, “Effects of short peptides on lymphocyte chromatin in senile subjects,” Bull Exp Biol Med (2004). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15085253/
13. Lezhava T, Monaselidze J, Kadotani T, et al., “Anti-aging peptide bioregulators induce reactivation of chromatin,” Georgian Med News (2006). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16705247/
14. Gumen A, Kozinets G, Shanin S, et al., “Production of lymphocyte-activating factors by mouse macrophages during aging and under the effect of short peptides,” Bull Exp Biol Med (2006). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17426849/
15. Sevostianova NN, Linkova NS, Polyakova VO, et al., “Immunomodulating effects of Vilon and its analogue in the culture of human and animal thymus cells,” Bull Exp Biol Med (2013). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23486604/
16. Ivko OM, Drobintseva AO, Leont’eva, et al., “The influence of AEDG and KE peptides on mitochondries stain and L7A ribosomes protein expression during human pineal gland and thymus cells aging,” Adv Gerontol (2020). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33342107/
17. Avolio F, Martinotti S, Khavinson VK, et al., “Peptides Regulating Proliferative Activity and Inflammatory Pathways in the Monocyte/Macrophage THP-1 Cell Line,” Int J Mol Sci (2022). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35408963/ (abstract and grant field only; PubMed full page blocked)
18. Lezhava T, Jokhadze T, Monaselidze J, et al., “Epigenetic modification under the influence of peptide bioregulators on the ‘old’ chromatin,” Georgian Med News (2023). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37042594/
19. Pliss GB, Mel’nikov AA, Malinin VV, et al., “Inhibitory effect of peptide vilon on the development of induced rat urinary bladder tumors in rats,” Bull Exp Biol Med (2001). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11586406/
20. Alimova IN, Bashurin, Popovich, et al., “Effect of Epitalon and Vilon treatment on mammary carcinogenesis in transgenic erbB-2/NEU mice,” Vopr Onkol (2002). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12101568/
21. Anisimov VN, Bokheler, Khavinson VKh, et al., “Studies of the effects of Vilon and Epithalon on gene expression in mouse heart using DNA-microarray technology,” Bull Exp Biol Med (2002). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12360356/
22. Koplik EV, Meshcheriakov, Pertsov, et al., “Effect of dipeptide vilon on emotional stress resistance in rats,” Ross Fiziol Zh Im I M Sechenova (2002). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12587272/
23. Pliss GB, Mel’nikov AA, Malinin VV, et al., “The effect of vilon (Lys-Glu) on 1,2-dimethylhydrazine-induced neoplasia,” Vopr Onkol (2005). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16308980/
24. Ivanov, Khavinson VKh, Malinin VV, et al., “Vilon effect on consequences of repeated radioactive and mercuric impact in small doses,” Adv Gerontol (2005). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16075682/
25. Gavrisheva NA, Malinin, Ses, et al., “Effect of peptide Vilon on the content of transforming growth factor-beta and permeability of microvessels during chronic renal failure,” Bull Exp Biol Med (2005). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16142267/
26. Kudriavtseva, Zaichenko, Efremov, et al., “Effect of vilon on neuroendocrine status and sexual function of old male rats,” Adv Gerontol (2006). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17152729/
27. Aleksinskaya MA, Nazarov, Posiseeva, et al., “Comparison of treatment options for experimental endometriosis in rats,” Bull Exp Biol Med (2015). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25778659/
28. Ias’kevich, Krutilina, Kostetskaia, et al., “Application of peptide bioregulator in complex treatment of elderly cancer patients,” Adv Gerontol (2005). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16075684/
29. Kuznik BI, Kolesnichenko, Kliuchereva, et al., “Effect of thymomimetic vilon on blood coagulation system and fibrinolysis in diabetes mellitus type 1 patients of different age,” Adv Gerontol (2006). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17152731/
30. Kuznik BI, Isakova, Kliuchereva, et al., “Effect of vilon on the immunity status and coagulation hemostasis in patients of different age with diabetes mellitus,” Adv Gerontol (2007). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18306698/
31. Khavinson VKh, Kuznik BI, Ryzhak GA, “Peptide bioregulators: the new class of geroprotectors. Message 2. Clinical studies results,” Adv Gerontol (2013), abstract only. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24003726/
32. ClinicalTrials.gov API v2, queries “vilon”, “Lys-Glu”, “KE peptide”, “thymogen” (run 2026-11-09); no vilon study. https://clinicaltrials.gov/api/v2/studies
33. @Hoostethics, “ranking the most cope supplements” (2026-10-15), text read through the fxtwitter mirror because X blocks automated access, attached image viewed. https://x.com/Hoostethics/status/2110728908735979632

This article is information, not medical advice.