Ovagen
Also known as: EDL · Glu-Asp-Leu · EDL tripeptide · liver peptide bioregulator (vendor name) · Cytogen (marketing class name)
Research focus
Liver and gastrointestinal tissue (hepatic and digestive support, per vendor positioning)
US regulatory status
Not FDA-approved · Not compoundable
Evidence rating
No Human Data
Origin
Ovagen is sold as a member of the short synthetic "Cytogen" peptide line associated with Prof. Vladimir Khavinson and the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology (Saint Petersburg, Russia). The broader research program behind these peptides dates to Soviet-era military medicine in the 1970s-1980s, when Khavinson and colleagues prepared tissue extracts ("Cytamins") and later proposed that short fragments within them could be synthesized as defined peptides ("Cytogens") with tissue-specific activity. In that foundational framework, described in Khavinson's review "Peptides and Ageing" (Neuro Endocrinology Letters, 2002), the liver-directed bioregulator is characterized as a tetrapeptide "specific for the heart, liver, brain cortex, and pineal glands" - not as a tripeptide. The commercial "Ovagen = Glu-Asp-Leu (EDL) liver/GI peptide" identity comes from vendor and supplement-channel marketing rather than from indexed Khavinson-group publications; we retain the supplied Glu-Asp-Leu sequence here because that is the standard one-letter (E-D-L) reading used by sellers, but flag in Open Questions that we could not authenticate this specific tripeptide, or its liver assignment, against a primary Khavinson source. Note also that "Ovagen" is independently a registered veterinary trademark for an ovine follicle-stimulating-hormone product used to superovulate sheep and cattle - an entirely different substance that accounts for essentially all PubMed hits on the word "Ovagen."
Plain-language summary
Ovagen is marketed as a tiny three-amino-acid peptide (Glu-Asp-Leu, abbreviated EDL) said to "support" the liver and digestive system, sold as part of the Russian Khavinson "bioregulator" family. Put plainly: there is essentially no published science on this exact compound. A PubMed search for the molecule turns up nothing relevant, and a search for the name "Ovagen" actually returns a veterinary fertility drug for sheep, not this peptide. The general idea behind these peptides - that short fragments might nudge gene activity in specific tissues - comes from a single research group and rests mostly on lab-dish and computer-modeling studies of other, related peptides, not this one. There are no human trials, no animal efficacy studies, and no independent replication for Ovagen itself. Treat the marketing claims as unproven hypotheses, not established facts.
Claimed mechanism (as reported)
Vendors and the Khavinson "peptide theory of ageing" propose that ultra-short peptides like EDL act as epigenetic regulators - reportedly entering cells, binding specific DNA regions or histone proteins, and modulating the expression of genes that govern tissue-specific protein synthesis (here, in hepatocytes and gut epithelium). In published Khavinson-group work this DNA/chromatin-binding model is supported primarily by in-silico docking and in-vitro cell-culture studies of other peptides (for example KED/Lys-Glu-Asp and EDR/Glu-Asp-Arg), not by studies of Glu-Asp-Leu. The claimed mechanism for Ovagen specifically is therefore an extrapolation from the group's general framework and has not been demonstrated for this molecule in peer-reviewed literature.
Evidence summary
No published human studies exist for Ovagen (Glu-Asp-Leu / EDL) as a liver or GI peptide, and we could not locate animal efficacy data for this specific sequence either. A targeted PubMed search for the Glu-Asp-Leu peptide in the liver returns only an unrelated 1989 transglutaminase paper, and "Ovagen" as a search term returns a veterinary ovine-FSH superovulation product rather than the bioregulator. What real literature exists belongs to the surrounding Khavinson short-peptide program - geroprotection and gene-expression reviews and in-vitro/in-silico studies of different peptides (notably KED/Lys-Glu-Asp and EDR/Glu-Asp-Arg), published largely by a single research group in Russian gerontology journals. Notably, the foundational Khavinson review assigns the liver to a tetrapeptide, not the tripeptide sold as Ovagen, so even the compound's identity and tissue claim are not clearly anchored in primary sources. As of 2026 there are no large, independently replicated randomized controlled trials, and no English-language peer-reviewed efficacy data specific to this molecule.
What the research reports
Peptides and Ageing (foundational review describing tissue-specific short-peptide design, including a liver-specific peptide)
Grade DKhavinson VKh · Neuro Endocrinology Letters · 2002
Reported finding: Sets out the 'peptide theory of ageing' and the design of short tissue-specific peptides from tissue extracts. Describes the liver-directed bioregulator as a tetrapeptide 'specific for the heart, liver, brain cortex, and pineal glands' - it does not describe or validate a Glu-Asp-Leu tripeptide for the liver. Establishes context only, not evidence for Ovagen.
Sample: Not applicable (review)
Methodology: D - narrative review / theory paper from the originating research group; no controlled data on Glu-Asp-Leu
Limitations: Single-group review, no primary efficacy data, no mention of the EDL sequence; mechanism claims are framework-level, not compound-specific.
Glu-Asp-Leu / EDL peptide and liver (direct compound search)
Grade CNo relevant authors identified · No relevant journal (search returns an unrelated transglutaminase report) · Searched through 2026
Reported finding: A PubMed search for the Glu-Asp-Leu peptide in liver contexts returns no studies of EDL as a liver/GI bioregulator; the lone hit is an unrelated 1989 paper on guinea-pig liver transglutaminase terminal sequences. This documents the absence of indexed primary literature on Ovagen.
Sample: n=0 relevant studies
Methodology: N/A - no relevant records found
Limitations: Confirms a literature gap rather than a finding; English-language PubMed indexing only, so obscure Russian-language reports may not be captured.
Khavinson-group short-peptide gene-expression and geroprotection studies (KED, EDR, related peptides)
Grade CKhavinson VKh, Lin'kova NS, Kuznik BI et al. · Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine; Advances in Gerontology (Uspekhi Gerontologii) · 2000-2022
Reported finding: Reports that short peptides such as Lys-Glu-Asp (KED) and Glu-Asp-Arg (EDR) reportedly modulate expression of genes tied to aging, apoptosis, and tissue differentiation. None of this work characterizes Glu-Asp-Leu (Ovagen) or a liver/GI indication; it is the nearest real literature by analogy only.
Sample: Typically cell-culture and bioinformatic studies; small or not applicable
Methodology: C - mostly in-vitro cell-culture and in-silico docking, single research group, limited blinding or independent replication
Limitations: Different peptides than Ovagen; single-group output; heavy reliance on in-vitro/in-silico models; sparse independent replication.
"Ovagen" as indexed in the biomedical literature (name-collision check)
Grade CFriedman E; Samartzi F; Gonzalez-Bulnes A et al. (veterinary reproduction researchers) · Domestic Animal Endocrinology; Theriogenology; Reproduction in Domestic Animals · 2003-2010
Reported finding: Every PubMed record matching 'Ovagen' refers to Ovagen(TM), a commercial ovine follicle-stimulating-hormone preparation used for superovulation in livestock - not the Glu-Asp-Leu peptide bioregulator. Underscores that the bioregulator has no indexed human or animal efficacy literature under this name.
Sample: Veterinary studies in sheep and cattle
Methodology: N/A for this hub - relevant only to show the name refers to a different product
Limitations: Demonstrates a naming collision, not evidence about the peptide; does not address EDL safety or efficacy at all.
Administration reported in studies
There are no human or animal studies of Ovagen (Glu-Asp-Leu) from which to report dosing, route, or duration. Supplement-channel vendors typically sell it as an oral capsule or as a "research" lyophilized powder for reconstitution, sometimes paired with longer "Cytamin"-style preparations, and suggest short multi-week "courses" by analogy to other Khavinson peptides - but these regimens are marketing conventions with no published pharmacokinetic, dose-finding, or controlled-trial basis for this molecule. This is a summary of what sellers describe - not a dosing recommendation and not a protocol endorsed by TPC.
This section reports what published studies describe. It is not a dosing recommendation from TPS.
Safety record
No formal safety data exist for Ovagen (Glu-Asp-Leu) in humans: no published trials, no pharmacovigilance reporting, and no characterized toxicology, drug-interaction, or long-term-use profile for this sequence. The general Khavinson short-peptide literature reports few acute adverse effects in its small studies, but that literature does not cover EDL and cannot be used to infer that Ovagen is safe. Products sold in the research-chemical and supplement channels are not manufactured to pharmaceutical standards; purity, identity, sterility, and endotoxin content are unverified and not checked by TPC. Absence of reported harm is not evidence of safety - it reflects the absence of study.
US legal status
Not FDA-approved for any use. Not on the FDA 503A compoundable bulk drug substances list, and not legally compoundable for human clinical use in the United States. Sold online only as a "research chemical" or dietary-style supplement; vendors in that channel are unregulated and not verified by TPC. (Note: the unrelated veterinary product "Ovagen" ovine FSH has its own animal-health regulatory status, which does not apply to this peptide.)
Open research questions
- ? Can the marketed identity be authenticated - is 'Ovagen' actually Glu-Asp-Leu, and is a tripeptide (rather than the liver tetrapeptide named in Khavinson's own 2002 review) the correct liver bioregulator? Where is the primary source?
- ? Is there any peer-reviewed in-vitro or animal study showing EDL affects hepatocyte or gut-epithelium gene expression, or is the mechanism purely extrapolated from other peptides (KED, EDR)?
- ? Do any controlled human data exist for a liver or GI endpoint, and could a properly blinded, independently replicated trial be conducted?
- ? What are the pharmacokinetics, oral bioavailability, and long-term safety of Glu-Asp-Leu in humans - none of which have been characterized?
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