Livagen: The Definitive Guide

What is Livagen?

Livagen is a lab-made peptide, a short chain of four amino acids, that people take hoping to support their liver or as part of an anti-aging routine. It is sold mainly as vials of powder for injection, and it has never been approved as a medicine anywhere we checked.

It comes from a Russian research program led by Vladimir Khavinson, whose group calls very short peptides bioregulators and links each one to an organ. Livagen is their liver peptide: its patent, first filed in Russia in 2000, describes it as a tetrapeptide that stimulates the activity of hepatocytes, the main working cells of the liver. [1] Chemically it is lysyl-glutamyl-aspartyl-alanine, written Lys-Glu-Asp-Ala or KEDA, with the formula C18H31N5O9 and a molecular weight of about 461.5. [2], [3]

The group says it built Livagen from the amino-acid makeup of Hepalin, an older extract of animal liver, rather than purifying it from liver tissue. [4], [5] So Livagen is a single, defined molecule, while liver extracts such as Hepalin and the calf-liver extract Ventvil are mixtures; research on an extract is not research on Livagen. [6]

Several products are easily confused with it. Vesugen (Lys-Glu-Asp, KED) is Livagen's first three amino acids, and at least one dosing page mislabels Livagen as that tripeptide; Pancragen (KEDW) and Prostamax (KEDP) share the same first three with a different fourth. [7], [8] Ovagen, often sold as a partner “liver” peptide, is a different three-amino-acid chain (Glu-Asp-Leu, EDL) that the developer's own review lists for both the kidneys and the liver. [7] Svetinorm is a capsule of natural liver peptide extract, not Livagen. [9], [10]

Doserly

What is and is not Livagen

Identities from the developer's patent and review, PubChem and product pages

Livagen (KEDA) · this guide

What it is: Lab-made tetrapeptide Lys-Glu-Asp-Ala, C₁₈H₃₁N₅O₉, 461.5 g/molSold as: Vials of powder for injectionHuman data: One patent example: 23 adults with chronic hepatitis

Same first three amino acids, different molecule

Vesugen (KED)

What it is: Tripeptide Lys-Glu-Asp: Livagen's first three amino acidsWhy it matters: One dosing page calls Livagen this tripeptide

Pancragen (KEDW)

What it is: Same first three amino acids, tryptophan fourth; promoted for the pancreas

Prostamax (KEDP)

What it is: Same first three amino acids, proline fourth; promoted for the prostate

Often confused

Ovagen (EDL)

What it is: A different tripeptide, Glu-Asp-LeuWhy it matters: Often sold as Livagen's ‘liver partner’; the developer review lists it for kidney and liver

Liver extracts (Hepalin, Ventvil, Svetinorm)

What they are: Mixtures of peptides from animal liverLink to Livagen: Livagen was designed from Hepalin's amino-acid makeup; extract data are not Livagen data

Only the lab-made Lys-Glu-Asp-Ala peptide is Livagen. Research on a look-alike or a liver extract cannot be counted for Livagen.

Typical Livagen Protocols

The most common amount in the reviewed sources is 0.5–2 mg once a day by subcutaneous injection, but sources split on how long to take it: a short course of about 10–20 days (one page allows up to 30), repeated once to three times a year, or a 12-week course that steps up from 0.5 mg to 2 mg. [10], [15], [12], [17] Educators in community education groups describe the short course most often.

Titration Changing the amount in steps

Short-course pages use one fixed amount from day one. The 12-week template adds 0.5 mg every two weeks, from 0.5 mg to 2 mg, and holds 2 mg for the last six weeks. Its steps match syringe markings (7.5, 15, 22.5 and 30 units from a 20 mg vial mixed with 3 mL; see units), not a tested ramp. One public forum user described 2 mg a day for 20 days for each of several bioregulators, Livagen among them, then 500 mcg on about 20 days a month. [12], [18], [22]

Breaks and cycles

Short courses are followed by a long break: sources describe repeating every 3–6 months, or once to three times a year, with 4–6 months or at least 3 months between courses. The 12-week template gives no break; one copy of it says 8–12 weeks followed by 4 weeks off. None of these gaps has been tested. [11], [10], [15], [23]

Timing

Most pages give no time of day. One seller suggests evening injections, and capsule-style pages say to take it before meals. [24], [25]

Read the units: mcg means micrograms, and 1 mg equals 1,000 mcg. A 20 mg vial holds 20,000 mcg, so the vial size is a stock, not a dose. Each amount here is for one injection, and each schedule gives one injection a day, so the amount and the daily total are the same number. How mcg converts to syringe units.

Before you compare any of these numbers, four cautions. First, no study has tested any row in this table. The developer's patent claims a range of 0.01–100 mcg per kg of body weight a day, and its own injection vial holds 10 mcg; its toxicity section implies an intended dose of roughly 1 mcg per kg a day, which is about 70 mcg for a 70 kg adult (our calculation from the patent's wording). [1] The 1–2 mg amounts are about 14–29 times that, and the high row up to about 140 times. Second, Livagen is promoted for the liver, but it has never been tested alongside standard hepatitis, fatty-liver or gallbladder care, so do not stop or delay prescribed treatment. Third, the patent's only people had long-standing hepatitis; no one with liver cancer, cirrhosis or a liver transplant has been studied (see the risks). Fourth, nothing supports its use by anyone under 18, or during pregnancy or breastfeeding.

Each row is a complete schedule from one source, so its amount and duration belong together. Low, mid and high are alternatives, not steps to move through. These schedules come from protocol websites and sellers rather than clinical trials; the cited references give the full details.

What dose did the patent use?

The patent is the only document in which people are known to have received Livagen. It reports the dose only as a range for the whole group, a span of 10,000-fold, so it does not tell you what any patient took. [1] The small vial and the rat doses (1 mcg per rat, or 1 mcg per kg in a tumor study) sit at the bottom of that range, and animal doses per kg should not be scaled up to people. [1] The only protocol pages near these amounts suggest 10–20 mcg or 100–500 mcg a day. [24], [26]

What about capsules?

Capsule pages disagree by 1,000-fold or more about what a capsule holds, from 0.1 mg to about 20 mg, and one page gives 100–200 mg a day. [28], [31], [8] Several say a Russian company makes or registered a Livagen capsule, but the one named manufacturer we could check does not list one, a second named supplier's catalogue could not be reached, and the Russian drug directory has no entry. [10], [25], [29], [32] Whether swallowed Livagen reaches the blood has never been measured (see routes).

In community education groups, the usual advice is 1–2 mg a day by subcutaneous injection for 10–20 days (one educator says 20–30), which the educators themselves call a blanket figure for every bioregulator. No member reported their own Livagen dose.

Where protocols differ: patent doses, units and a thousandfold spread ↓

What is Livagen commonly used for?

Most people look into Livagen for their liver: to “support” or “detox” it, to bring down raised liver blood tests, or to recover from what they believe is liver damage. Others add it to anti-aging routines with other short peptides such as Epitalon, and a few describe it for joint pain, focus or a “reset” between weight-loss drugs. [13], [24], [45], [46], [47], [48]

The developers describe Livagen as a peptide that stimulates liver cells and, in the 2020 review, as a liver- and immune-protecting agent that works best in aging. [1], [6] The sections below describe what was measured; they do not show that Livagen treats or prevents any condition.

Liver health, liver enzymes and hepatitis

This is the use Livagen was designed for. The only people known to have received it had chronic persistent hepatitis, a long-lasting, milder form of liver inflammation, in an example in the developer's patent: after 10–40 days of injections into a muscle, average bilirubin and ALT (a liver enzyme) were lower than before treatment, while other liver tests did not change. [1] It was never published in a journal and had no proper comparison group (see the full details).

In rats poisoned with a liver-damaging chemical, it lowered liver enzymes (see rat studies). [1] In public forums, people describe using it for “liver damage” or with other peptides while their enzymes were raised; none separated Livagen's effect from everything else they were doing. [45], [46]

Fatty liver, gallstones and “liver detox”

Seller pages advertise Livagen for liver “detox”, and in community education groups members suggest it for fatty liver, gallstones or as a hedge against liver problems from prescription medicines. [13], [24] No study has tested Livagen for fatty liver disease, gallstones, alcohol-related liver disease or medicine-related liver injury, in people or animals. The rat studies used a single chemical poison, which is a different problem from fatty liver or gallstones. If a medicine you take needs liver blood tests, those tests remain the way to check your liver.

Healthy aging and longevity stacks

Livagen's anti-aging reputation comes from cell studies in which it loosened tightly packed chromatin, the packaged form of DNA, in white blood cells from people aged 75–91, and raised protein production most in liver cells taken from old rats (see mechanisms). [49], [4] In fruit flies exposed to Livagen for up to two days as larvae, results on lifespan were mixed: median lifespan rose in five of six groups, but the estimated maximum lifespan was shorter than in untreated flies in four of six groups, females included. [50] No study has measured aging or lifespan in people taking Livagen.

Joint pain, focus and mood

A few public forum users credit Livagen with fast relief of joint pain or with better focus and memory, always while taking several other products or changing their diet. [47], [22], [51] These uses rest on a test-tube finding that Livagen slows enzymes that break down enkephalins, the body's own pain-relieving signals, with half the enzyme activity blocked at 20 micromolar in a test tube; no one has measured whether an injection reaches levels anywhere near that in the body. [52] No study has tested Livagen for pain, mood or thinking in people.

A “reset” between weight-loss drugs

One public forum user described a 40-day “reset” heard on a podcast, with 2 mg of Livagen a day for 20 days followed by 20 days of Vilon, and felt their weight-loss drug worked better afterwards at a lower dose. [48] They also changed their weight-loss drug dose, the plan they followed suggested adding cagrilintide during the reset, and no study supports the idea that Livagen restores a response to these medicines.

Where do Livagen protocols differ?

Livagen has no approved label and no dosing study, so the numbers you meet online come from copied templates, rules of thumb for the whole bioregulator family, or a patent written for a different purpose. Knowing which is which explains most of the disagreement.

Micrograms or milligrams: a thousandfold spread

Website amounts per injection run from 10 mcg to 25 mg, a spread of more than 1,000-fold. [24], [40] The patent sits at the low end, but its claimed range is so wide (up to about 7 mg a day for a 70 kg adult) that most injection amounts fall inside it; it ties no specific amount to a result. [1]

Doserly

Micrograms in the patent, milligrams on websites

Daily amounts on a scale where each step is ten times larger; not a recommendation. Tick labels are micrograms unless marked mg; the dashed line is the patent-implied ≈70 mcg a day (our calculation).

Developer's patent

Rat dose: 1 mcg per rat

Patent injection vial: 10 mcg

Implied dose ≈ 70 mcg a day at 70 kg (our calculation)

Claimed range: 0.7 mcg to 7 mg a day at 70 kg

Websites, injection (mostly under the skin)

10–20 mcg a day

100–500 mcg a day

Most common: 0.5–2 mg a day

2–10 mg a day (one seller)

Up to 40 mg a day (20 mg twice daily, one page)

Capsule claims (no product verified)

0.1 mg to about 80 mg a day (pages disagree)

100–200 mg a day (one page)

The most common website amount (0.5–2 mg) is about 7–29 times the patent's implied dose. No amount on this scale has been tested for benefit or safety in people.

Why is the patent dose so much lower?

Its examples used tiny amounts: 1 mcg per rat for liver damage, 1 mcg per kg for a liver tumor and 0.005 mcg per mL in liver-cell cultures. [1] Its toxicity summary calls the 90-day and 6-month rat doses (0.1–3 mg per kg) “100–1000 times” the therapeutic dose, and 1–5 mg per kg “several thousand times” the dose recommended for clinical trials, which only makes sense if the intended dose was about 1 mcg per kg. [1] That is our reading of the patent, not a number it prints. None of the website pages we compared ties its much larger amounts to a Livagen study.

Ten days or twelve weeks?

The patent and most short-course pages describe courses of 10–40 days, and the patent's patients received 10–40 days depending on severity. [1], [10], [15] The 12-week step-up template instead keeps people on it daily for three months. [12] That is 84 injection days instead of 10–20, and about 126 mg in total, compared with 10–40 mg for a 10–20-day course at 1–2 mg. No source explains where the 12-week template came from, and in community education groups one educator's lesson teaches it while another essay in the same group calls continuous use a misunderstanding.

Is it the same dose for every bioregulator?

Often, yes. The 1–2 mg a day for 10–20 days figure is applied across the whole family of short peptides, and one public forum user pointed out that they had seen “the exact same dosage for different Russian peptides”. [53], [15] In community education groups, the educator who gives this figure calls it a blanket guideline because no Livagen protocol exists. A figure copied across peptides with different chains and different research tells you about convention, not about Livagen.

Into a muscle or subcutaneous?

The patent gave Livagen into a muscle to people and to rats with liver damage, and by subcutaneous injection to rats with a liver tumor. [1] Almost every website uses subcutaneous injection, and a few pages say into a muscle, or either route. [21], [24] No study has compared the two routes or measured blood levels after either.

Do sources start low and step up?

Only the 12-week template does, adding 0.5 mg every two weeks. [12] One protocol page suggests starting at its lowest amount and holding it for about a week to judge tolerance. [11] Short-course pages start at their full amount. [10]

How do micrograms convert to syringe units?

Injection pages often give amounts as “units” on an insulin syringe. A U-100 syringe holds 100 units per millilitre, so units measure volume, not an amount of Livagen. How much peptide each unit holds depends on how much water was added to the vial (reconstitution).

For example, a 20 mg vial mixed with 2 mL of water holds 10 mg per mL, so each unit holds 100 mcg and 2 mg is 20 units. The same vial mixed with 3 mL holds about 6.67 mg per mL, so each unit holds about 66.7 mcg and 2 mg is 30 units. That second mix is where the 7.5, 15, 22.5 and 30 unit steps of the 12-week template come from. Doserly's reconstitution calculator works this out for any vial and shows each step. [16], [12], [35]

What happens when you stop Livagen?

No study has followed anyone after stopping. The patent reports blood tests at the end of treatment only, with no later follow-up. [1] Nothing is known about withdrawal or rebound effects. Pages that discuss it say courses simply end on the planned day, without tapering. [15]

Public forum accounts are few:

• One person who used Livagen for 12 days reported severe anxiety and heart symptoms that were still present 8 months later. [69]
• One long-term user of many bioregulators described moving from 2 mg a day for 20 days to 500 mcg on about 20 days a month rather than stopping. [22]
• One person said their liver enzymes stayed raised unless they cycled the injectable peptides, while also taking several others. [46]

In community education groups, short courses with months off are the norm by design. Some educators say that feeling nothing during or after a course is expected because the hoped-for benefits take years; that is a belief, not a finding, and it makes it hard to ever conclude that a course did not work. The end of a course is a sensible time to review how you feel, and any blood test results, with a clinician.

Do injected and oral Livagen behave the same way?

No one has measured this for any route. An intramuscular injection is absorbed from muscle, which usually has a rich blood supply; a subcutaneous injection is absorbed from the fatty layer under the skin; an oral capsule has to survive the gut and cross the gut wall. The patent's patients received the first, most websites describe the second, and capsule pages describe the third. Nobody has measured blood levels after any of them.

Bioavailability is how much of a dose reaches the blood in the form being measured. For Livagen it is unknown for every route. One website's figures of 90% for injection and 10% by mouth trace to no study. [56]

How long does Livagen last in the body?

Nobody knows. No study has measured its half-life, its blood levels or how quickly it is broken down or removed, in people or animals. Pharmacokinetics, the study of how the body absorbs and clears a substance, has not been done for Livagen, and no registered trial exists. [70], [71] A figure of about 30 minutes on one website is labeled an estimate with no source, and a 3.8–6.9-hour figure on another was copied from an unrelated compound. [26], [36]

What is known is that it resists being broken down in a dish. Enzymes from rat small intestine did not break it down “even to a small extent”, and a developer review says it stayed intact for 3–4 hours in salt solutions, acid and tissue samples. [72], [7] Resisting breakdown is not the same as being absorbed or lasting a long time in the blood.

Does oral Livagen work? Is there a Russian capsule?

There is no measurement in people. In a rat study, two weeks of Livagen by mouth changed digestive enzyme activity along the gut, lowering it in young rats and raising it toward young levels in old ones, which shows it acts on the gut lining; it does not show that intact Livagen reached the blood. [72] A computer model from the developer group ranked Livagen in the middle for fitting three of the gut's peptide transporters and poorly for a fourth. [71]

We could not find the Russian Livagen capsule many pages describe (see capsules). [29], [32] One protocol page says plainly that Livagen was not designed as a capsule, unlike the natural liver extracts sold in Russia. [73] In community education groups, educators say most bioregulators were originally capsules and that they see more results with capsules; the liver capsules those groups sell are extracts such as Svetinorm, not Livagen.

Does it need to be injected near the liver?

No source describes that. The patent's patients received it as an ordinary injection into a muscle, and protocol pages use the usual subcutaneous sites such as the belly or thigh. [1], [54]

What about Livagen with Ovagen, Epitalon, Vilon and other stacks?

Livagen is rarely taken alone. Combinations people search for include:

• Livagen and Ovagen as a “liver pair”, sometimes with the Svetinorm extract capsule; one forum user credited injectable Ovagen plus Livagen with normal liver enzymes within days, after a year of other peptide pills. [31], [46]
• Livagen with Epitalon in an anti-aging course; one page gives 1 mg of Livagen with 10 mg of Epitalon a day for 14 days. [44]
• Livagen then Vilon in the 40-day “reset”, or cycled with Vilon. [48], [46]
• Livagen with Pancragen for liver and pancreas, a pairing one page says is common. [21]
• Livagen with glutathione for “liver detox”. [24]

None of these combinations has been studied. In community education groups, members run one bioregulator course after another, or treat Livagen as an optional add-on in stacks of up to about 16 compounds a day, and some advice says bioregulators never interfere with each other; no data support that. A stack makes any benefit or reaction impossible to attribute.

How should Livagen be stored, and how long does it last?

There is no stability study for any Livagen product. What exists is the patent's description and website instructions:

• Powder, before mixing. The patent describes the purified peptide as a white, odorless freeze-dried (lyophilized) powder, but gives no storage conditions. [1] Websites say to keep the powder frozen at −20 °C (−4 °F), dry and away from light. [12]
• After mixing. Websites say to refrigerate mixed vials at 2–8 °C (36–46 °F) and give use-within windows ranging from 21–28 days to 60 days; the page with a 28–30-day “stability window” calls it typical for most peptides, and none was tested for Livagen. [12], [27], [11], [13] One forum user's guess that a mixed vial lasts up to a year has no support. [74]
• Capsules. One page says capsules keep at room temperature; since no Livagen capsule could be verified, that describes other products. [27]

The patent's own injection was a ready-made solution of 10 mcg in 1 mL of salt water, not a powder mixed at home. [1] Health Canada warns that unauthorized peptide drugs may be improperly made or stored, and cold storage cannot tell you what is in a vial (see product quality). [75]

What do we actually know about Livagen in people?

Very little. The only people known to have received Livagen are 23 adults with long-standing hepatitis described in one example in the developer's patent. It was not published in a journal, and no trial of Livagen is registered anywhere. [1], [70] Many other papers used human cells, mostly white blood cells from older donors, but those cells were treated in a dish; nobody in those studies received Livagen.

What did the patent's hepatitis example report?

The patent describes 23 adults aged 32–53 who had had chronic persistent hepatitis for 10–20 years, with pain under the right ribs, weakness and tiredness; most had had viral hepatitis A in the past, and all had previously received standard medicines from time to time. [1]

• What they received: Livagen solution by intramuscular injection once a day, at 0.01–100 mcg per kg of body weight, for 10–40 days depending on how severe their disease was. The patent does not say who received which dose or for how long.
• What was measured: blood and urine counts, liver blood tests, blood fats, antibody levels (immunoglobulins) and a liver ultrasound.
• What changed, before versus after: average bilirubin fell from 26.3 to 21.7 and ALT from 53.1 to 40.8, both reported as statistically significant; AST, GGT, cholesterol and triglycerides did not change. The antibody type IgM fell from 3.80 to 1.50 g per L. The patent says 93% of patients reported less weakness, better appetite and more energy for work, and 51% had noticeably less pain. Ultrasound results are not reported.
• What is missing: a comparison group of 12 “analogous patients” on standard treatment is mentioned, but none of their results is given. Side effects are not reported, which means unknown, not absent, and there is no follow-up after treatment ended.

Doserly

Everything known about Livagen in people

One example in the developer's US patent 7,101,854 (example 7); no journal paper or registered trial

Patent example 7 · chronic hepatitis

Who: 23 adults aged 32–53 with chronic persistent hepatitis for 10–20 yearsWhat they received: Livagen injected into a muscle once daily, 0.01–100 mcg per kg, for 10–40 days; who took which dose is not stated

Changed, average of 23, before → after

Bilirubin: 26.3 → 21.7ALT: 53.1 → 40.8IgM: 3.80 → 1.50 g/LBilirubin and ALT reported as significant; values as printed in the patent. AST, GGT, cholesterol and triglycerides did not change.

What was not done

Comparison group results: ○ Not reported (12 patients mentioned)Side effects: ○ Not reportedPublished in a journal: ○ NoRegistered trials: ○ None (ClinicalTrials.gov, searched Sep 2026)

23 treated adults in a patent, before-versus-after only: no comparison results, no side-effect reporting, no journal publication and no registered trial.

Why is this example so hard to judge?

• No real comparison. The results compare the same patients before and after treatment. Liver tests go up and down on their own, and people often start a treatment when their numbers are at their worst, so some improvement is expected with no treatment at all. The comparison group that could have shown this has no reported results.
• No dose to copy. The range covers a 10,000-fold spread, from 0.7 mcg to 7 mg a day for a 70 kg adult, so the example cannot support any particular amount.
• Not checked by others. It was written by the inventor to support a patent, not reviewed by a journal, and the diagnosis and treatment of the patients are not described in detail. [1]

In 2003, researchers linked to the developer network wrote that their results allowed them to “recommend” Livagen for clinical trials in liver disease. [5] We found no such trial, in any registry or journal. [70]

Did the white-blood-cell studies test Livagen in people?

No. A group of researchers in Tbilisi, Georgia, working with the developers, grew white blood cells from blood donors and added Livagen to the dish. The donors included people aged 75–91 and, in later papers, people with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (a thickened heart muscle), atherosclerosis (hardened arteries) and breast cancer. [49], [76], [77], [78], [79] These are cell studies: they show what the peptide did to cells in a dish, not what happens when a person takes it. One abstract nonetheless says its result “proves” Livagen's efficacy in preventing atherosclerosis, which a dish experiment cannot show. [78]

What did these studies measure?

The patent example measured blood markers (bilirubin and ALT) and symptoms (weakness and pain); liver tissue was examined only in rats, and chromosome activity only in cells in a dish. Blood markers can change without any change in how a liver disease progresses. No study has measured liver scarring, disease progression, hospital admissions or survival in people taking Livagen.

How might Livagen work?

The developers' idea is that each short peptide sends a signal specific to its organ: Livagen was designed to stimulate liver cells. The evidence for this comes from cell cultures, tissue pieces and rats, almost all from the developer network, so each point below is labeled with its evidence type.

Does it act on liver cells?

Cell study. In single-layer cultures of rat liver cells, Livagen raised the amount of protein the cells made, with the largest effect in cells from old rats, and made the cells' natural rhythm of protein production stronger. Epitalon, a sister peptide designed for a different organ, had no effect in the same test. [4], [1]

Tissue study. In small pieces of rat tissue grown in a dish (explants), Livagen at 2–20 ng per mL increased the growth zone of liver pieces by about 24%, and it was the only one of four peptides to do so; each of the others stimulated its own organ's tissue instead. A similar 24% effect appeared in liver pieces from chick embryos. [80], [81], [1] A separate study of rat liver culture described more “structural and functional” stability, without numbers in the abstract. [82]

These studies support the idea that Livagen affects liver cells in a dish. They do not show that an injection reaches the liver, or what it would do there.

Did it protect rat livers?

Animal study. In the patent, rats were poisoned with carbon tetrachloride for 5 days. Rats given 1 mcg of Livagen a day into a muscle at the same time had lower liver enzymes than poisoned rats that did not receive it (ALT 35.3 versus 53.0, AST 35.6 versus 54.0). In rats given Livagen for 15 days after the poisoning, enzymes were back near normal at day 20, and 10% of their liver cells were fat-laden versus 26.7% in untreated poisoned rats (the patent's table; its text says 16.7%). The group sizes are not given. [1] A 2003 conference abstract from a collaborating academy describes faster recovery in the same model, without numbers. [5]

A 2020 developer review says Livagen and the calf-liver extract Ventvil “restored liver function” in animal models of liver scarring and acute and chronic hepatitis, with the biggest effect in aging. We could read only its abstract, and the original experiments behind it could not be found. [6]

What does it do to chromatin?

Cell study. In white blood cells from people aged 75–88 treated in a dish, Livagen loosened tightly packed chromatin, reactivated genes that make ribosomes (the cell's protein factories) and, according to several papers from 2002 to 2020, also loosened the permanently packed regions near the centre of chromosomes. [49], [83], [84], [85] A 2023 paper from the same group found that the peptides, Livagen included, did not loosen those central regions, contradicting the earlier reports. [86]

Other cell papers from the group report that Livagen reduced chromosome changes caused by cobalt, and chromosome fragility caused by metals (significant only in cells from young donors); that it changed the response to radiation; and that adding it to cobalt shifted where a marker of DNA breakage and repair appeared, toward the chromosome ends. [76], [87], [88] In cells from people with a thickened heart muscle, Epitalon, not Livagen, had the strongest protective effect. [77] What these changes mean for a person's health is unknown.

Does it affect the body's own painkillers?

Laboratory study. In human blood serum in a test tube, Livagen slowed the enzymes that break down enkephalins, the body's own opioid-like pain signals, blocking half their activity at 20 micromolar (Epitalon needed 500). It did not attach to the brain's opioid receptors. [52] This is the finding behind forum claims that Livagen relieves pain. Nobody has measured whether an injection reaches concentrations like this in the body, or whether it changes pain in people. [89]

Does it change blood clotting or immunity?

Laboratory study. A 2003 conference abstract reports that in blood and plasma from healthy people and from people with viral hepatitis, Livagen stimulated immune cells and their ability to engulf germs. At higher concentrations, 40 mcg per mL and above, it slowed part of the immune complement system, acted as an anticoagulant (slowing clotting) and slowed the breakdown of clots. [5] The abstract gives no numbers or methods. The patent says clotting tests were run in rats given daily injections for 90 days and reports no abnormal findings, without showing the data; clotting has never been measured in a person given Livagen (see bleeding). [1]

Does it make animals live longer?

Animal study. No lifespan study in mammals was found. In fruit flies exposed to Livagen for up to two days as larvae, median lifespan rose in five of six line-and-sex groups but fell in one, and the estimated maximum lifespan was shorter than in untreated flies in four of six groups, females included (for example 71.4 versus 93.4 days); the authors conclude that the effects depended on the flies' sex and genetic line. [50] A computer search found short sequences resembling Livagen in proteins of the long-lived naked mole rat, which the developers see as support for their theory; it is not evidence that Livagen extends life. [90]

Does it act on the gut?

Animal study. Two weeks of Livagen by mouth changed digestive enzyme activity in rats: down in young rats and up toward young levels in old rats. In a dish it halved the activity of one gut enzyme. [72] The abstract gives no dose or group sizes.

What are the risks and unanswered questions?

Is Livagen safe?

Nobody knows. It has never been tested for safety in people: the only human example did not report side effects, and there are no studies of long-term use, pregnancy, children, older adults or people taking other medicines. [1] Animal toxicity testing is limited to short statements in the patent, and every product sold today comes from unregulated sellers.

What did the animal toxicity tests show?

The patent reports three tests, each described in a few sentences with no data tables: [1]

• Single doses: 72 male mice given 1–5 mg per kg into a muscle. None died over 14 days.
• 90 days: 64 rats given 1 mcg, 0.3 mg or 3 mg per kg into a muscle every day, with blood and clotting tests at the end. The patent reports no changes.
• 6 months: rats given 1 mcg, 0.1 mg or 1 mg per kg into a muscle every day, with blood tests and organ examinations. The patent reports “no pathologic alterations”.

These results are reassuring as far as they go, but they come from the inventor, the numbers behind them are not shown, and no one has repeated them. There are no tests for damage to DNA, effects on fertility or pregnancy, or cancer risk over a lifetime. Animal doses per kg cannot be converted into safe human doses.

What problems have actually been reported?

• Persistent anxiety and heart symptoms. One public forum user wrote that 12 days of Livagen “gave me horrible anxiety and heart issues” that were still present 8 months later. Their dose, product and any other substances are unknown, and there is no medical record, so Livagen cannot be confirmed as the cause. [69]
• Sleepiness. Another user took 10 mg a day for 10 days and noticed relaxation, some sleepiness and a sense of wellbeing, with no negative effects. [45]
• None noticed. Others, usually taking many products at once, reported no side effects. [47], [51]

In community education groups, no side effect was attributed to Livagen, but the accounts were few, gave no doses and involved large stacks, so that is an absence of reports, not evidence of safety. A small number of accounts cannot rule out uncommon or delayed harm.

Could Livagen affect cancer?

It has not been studied in people with cancer. In the patent, rats with a transplanted liver tumor that received 1 mcg per kg by subcutaneous injection for 10 days had tumors 2.5 times smaller at day 30 and showed a trend toward longer average survival than untreated rats (68 versus 55 days; the patent calls it a tendency). [1] That is one small animal experiment from the inventor, and it does not show that Livagen treats cancer.

The concern runs the other way too. The patent describes Livagen as activating the growth and development of liver cells, and no study has checked whether that could speed the growth of an existing tumor. [1] Cell studies using blood cells from people with breast cancer tell us nothing about the cancer itself. [79] In community education groups, an educator reassured a member with a cancer history that bioregulators were harmless, and a FAQ says they usually have no clear contraindication; neither statement is backed by any Livagen safety data. Anyone with a cancer history, or with liver cancer or cirrhosis, should speak to their oncologist or specialist first.

Could it affect bleeding or blood thinners?

In theory. In the 2003 laboratory report, Livagen at 40 mcg per mL and above slowed clotting and slowed the breakdown of clots in human plasma. [5] That is a test-tube result with no numbers. The patent's 90-day rat study lists clotting tests without data, and no one has checked whether an injection affects bleeding in people. [1] It is still a reason for people with a bleeding disorder, or who take anticoagulants such as warfarin, apixaban or rivaroxaban, or antiplatelet drugs, to speak to a doctor first.

Could product quality change the risk?

Yes. Livagen is sold only as unregulated “research” vials, so there is no guarantee that a vial contains the right peptide, the stated amount or nothing else. [75], [91] Seller and database pages we checked gave the wrong chemical name, the wrong molecular weight or a different peptide's sequence. [13], [27], [8] In community education groups, no one shared an independent test certificate for Livagen. Health Canada warns that unauthorized peptide products may contain too much, too little or none of the active ingredient, or contaminants, and that unauthorized injectables can cause infection and allergic reactions. [91], [75]

Is Livagen legal? Is it FDA-approved?

Livagen is not an approved medicine in any country we checked. Checked 26 September 2026:

• United States: not FDA-approved; no approved product or drug label under the name. [92], [93] It is not among the bulk substances nominated for pharmacy compounding (list updated 14 May 2026) or on FDA's list of compounding substances with safety risks, and it does not appear in the Federal Register or the Code of Federal Regulations. [94], [95], [96] Its US patent has expired. [1]
• Canada: not authorized (no product in Health Canada's Drug Product Database). Health Canada's advisory of 1 August 2025 lists Livagen among unauthorized injectable peptide drugs seized from and sold by a Canadian seller, and notes that injectable peptides are prescription drugs in Canada. [97], [75]
• Australia: not named by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, but it says unapproved peptide products are not included in its register of approved medicines (ARTG), which limits how they can be legally supplied. [98]
• United Kingdom: no record for Livagen or Lys-Glu-Asp-Ala in a search of GOV.UK, which covers the medicines regulator (MHRA). [99]
• Russia: no listing in the Vidal drug directory, the one named manufacturer we could check does not list it, and a second named supplier's catalogue could not be reached; the state register could not be searched. [32], [29]

A “research use only” label does not make a product legal to sell for human use, or safe.

Is Livagen banned in sport? Does it show up on a drug test?

Livagen is not named on the World Anti-Doping Agency's 2026 or 2027 Prohibited List. But the list's first section (S0) bans any substance “with no current approval by any governmental regulatory health authority for human therapeutic use”, and the 2027 list gives peptides as an example. [100], [101] Since we found no approval anywhere, S0 applies to Livagen in our reading; it is not a named listing. One website says it is allowed in sport, which is wrong. [23] We found no published drug test for Livagen; that does not make it permitted.

Who should be especially cautious?

• Pregnancy and breastfeeding. Not studied at all.
• Under 18. No study included anyone under 32.
• Liver disease. Only chronic persistent hepatitis has been studied, in one uncontrolled example. Cirrhosis, liver cancer, autoimmune liver disease, fatty liver disease and liver transplants have not; do not stop or delay prescribed care.
• A cancer history. No data on tumors in people (see cancer).
• Bleeding disorders or blood thinners. A test-tube anticlotting effect has never been checked in a person (see bleeding).
• Anxiety or heart rhythm problems. One public report describes long-lasting anxiety and heart symptoms after a course; it is unconfirmed, but worth knowing. [69]
• Medicines that need liver monitoring. Keep the monitoring your prescriber set; Livagen is not a substitute.
• Competitive athletes. See the anti-doping section above. [101]

Has Livagen been tested alongside other medicines?

No. The patent's patients had previously received standard medicines, but the patent does not say what they took during treatment or whether any interaction was looked for. [1] In the rat tumor study, cyclophosphamide was a separate comparison group, not given together with Livagen. [1] Nothing is known about combining Livagen with blood thinners, hepatitis medicines, weight-loss medicines, alcohol or other peptides. Health Canada notes that unauthorized injectable drugs can interact with other medications. [75] Bring a complete list of everything you take to a pharmacist or doctor.

What should be monitored while using Livagen?

No regulator has written a monitoring plan for Livagen, and the vials are sold with no approved label. What exists is a record of what the patent measured, plus general guidance. It can help you prepare questions for a clinician; it is not a personal testing plan.

What did the patent measure?

The patent's hepatitis example checked blood and urine counts, liver blood tests (bilirubin, ALT, AST and GGT), cholesterol and triglycerides, antibody levels and a liver ultrasound, before and after treatment. [1] Its rat toxicity studies added blood tests at 3 and 6 months and examinations of the heart, liver, kidneys and other organs. [1]

Which measures matter, and why?

Liver blood tests vary from week to week, so a single result before and after a course can mislead in either direction, and a normal result does not rule out liver disease. Anyone with a known liver condition should follow their specialist's testing schedule. Health Canada advises anyone who has used an unauthorized injectable peptide and has health concerns to consult a healthcare professional. [75]

What do people in public communities report?

Public accounts are few. Most come from Reddit peptide forums, where Livagen usually appears as one item in a long list of bioregulators or in an order list, and very few posts give an amount, a reason for using it or a test result. [102], [103] Several people asking for a Livagen dose got no answer or answers that contradicted each other. [104]

What do the positive reports look like?

• One user, mostly at 2 mg a day (250 mcg to 4 mg tried), said arthritic joint pain “melts away” within 5–10 minutes of an injection and the effect is gone by the next day, with no side effects noticed. [47] In a later comment the same user, aged 62, described 2 mg a day for 20 days for each of many bioregulators, then 500 mcg on about 20 days a month, alongside many other therapies. [22]
• Someone who took 10 mg a day for 10 days “to help repair liver damage” described relaxation, some sleepiness and a general feeling of wellbeing; they reported no liver tests and planned a larger course next. [45]
• A person whose liver enzymes had stayed raised after a year of peptide pills said they were in the normal range within a few days of starting injectable Ovagen and Livagen, while also cycling Vilon and taking Svetinorm capsules; they had also had a stem-cell treatment, after which their enzymes stayed raised. No values were given. [46]
• A person on a new high-fiber diet, creatine, injectable L-carnitine and vitamin C, who started Livagen after a 10-day course of Epitalon, Thymalin and oxytocin and had earlier used Cerebrolysin and Cortexin, described focus, clarity and better memory soon after each Livagen injection. [51]
• One person said a 20-day Livagen course followed by Vilon restored their response to a weight-loss drug, while changing that drug's dose. [48]

In each case something else changed at the same time, and none of these people had a comparison or a before-and-after test that could be credited to Livagen.

Does everyone notice a difference?

No. In community education groups, two members described noticing nothing: one after a Livagen course that followed a Cardiogen course, and another who ran about ten bioregulators through repeated courses and found most of them ineffective, with another member agreeing. In public forums, one user called Livagen “a particularly poorly studied, poorly known peptide”, and another dismissed it and two other peptides as a waste of money. [105]

Some educators answer that no noticeable change is expected, because the hoped-for benefits of bioregulators take years to appear. That is a belief, not a finding, and it means no single course can ever be judged a failure.

What about unwanted effects?

One person reported severe anxiety and heart symptoms lasting 8 months after a 12-day course, and another noticed sleepiness; none was attributed to Livagen in community education groups, where accounts were few. [69], [45] See the reported problems.

What do community education groups teach?

Educators give the dose advice, which conflicts even within one group (see where protocols differ); members mostly do not report their own doses. Several lesson claims go beyond the evidence. Lessons state that Livagen reopens silenced genes in any type of cell, activates immune cells in the liver and raises antioxidant enzymes. The chromatin studies used only white blood cells in a dish, with conflicting results, and the immune and antioxidant claims rest on a conference abstract and a review abstract whose original data we could not find. [49], [86], [5], [6] Lessons also say Livagen enters the blood intact when swallowed, but the studies show only that it resists digestive enzymes. [72] One group's cheat sheet lists Livagen for anti-aging, immunity and stress, with no liver use at all, and recommends Ovagen for the liver instead. Members have suggested it for gallstones, fatty liver and liver problems from prescription medicines, and one member reported an AI chatbot's suggestion to combine it with two other bioregulators for travel recovery; none of these uses has been studied.

The more careful lessons admit that the evidence is mostly Russian, mostly animal work and short on controlled human trials. Some courses copy seller descriptions and include discount codes, so they are not independent evidence.

How can you judge a recovery story?

Ask: What was the starting problem, and was it diagnosed? Which product, how much and by which route? What else started or stopped at the same time: other peptides, a new diet, a change in alcohol or medicines, weight loss? Was anything measured before and after, such as liver blood tests? What happened months later?

These selected discussions are not a survey of all users, a response rate or a substitute for controlled studies. Liver tests, energy and joint pain change by themselves, and people are more likely to post when something seems to work.

How does Livagen compare with Pancragen, Prostamax and Epitalon?

Livagen belongs to a family of very short peptides from the same Russian program. Pancragen and Prostamax share its first three amino acids (Lys-Glu-Asp) with a different fourth, and Epitalon is the family's best-known member. There is no Doserly guide to another liver peptide to compare it with. The table compares what each one is and how much has been tested in people.

The real differences are small. All four come from one research network, all rest on small reports without independent repetition, and none has a registered trial with results. Livagen's human evidence is the thinnest: a single patent example with no journal publication, compared with Pancragen's published reports and registered capsule product. No study has compared Livagen with any of them, or with standard liver treatments. People also combine Livagen with Ovagen and Vilon (see stacks); those combinations are untested too.

Common questions about Livagen

Is Livagen the same as Vesugen, Ovagen or Svetinorm?

No. Livagen is the four-amino-acid peptide Lys-Glu-Asp-Ala. Vesugen is the three-amino-acid Lys-Glu-Asp, Ovagen is a different three-amino-acid chain (Glu-Asp-Leu), and Svetinorm is a capsule of natural liver peptide extract. [7], [9] Some pages confuse them, including one that calls Livagen a tripeptide. [8] Research on one of these products cannot be counted for another, and a stack that contains several of them makes any effect impossible to attribute. See what Livagen is.

Does Livagen lower liver enzymes or repair the liver?

Not proven. The only people known to have received it, 23 adults with chronic hepatitis in a patent example, had lower bilirubin and ALT after 10–40 days of injections, but the results compare the same people before and after, with no reported comparison group. [1] In rats poisoned with a liver toxin, it lowered liver enzymes and fat in liver cells. [1] No study has shown that it repairs a damaged human liver. See the human data.

Can Livagen help fatty liver, gallstones or protect the liver from alcohol and medicines?

There is no evidence for any of these. No study has tested Livagen for fatty liver disease, gallstones, alcohol-related liver damage or liver injury from medicines, in people or animals; the rat studies used a single chemical poison. [1] If a medicine you take requires liver blood tests, keep having them, and do not replace prescribed treatment for a liver condition. See who should be cautious.

Is Livagen a pill or an injection?

It is sold almost entirely as vials of powder for injection. Many pages describe Russian Livagen capsules, but we could not find any such product: the one named manufacturer we could check does not list it, a second named supplier's catalogue could not be reached, and pages disagree by 1,000-fold about what a capsule contains. [10], [29], [31], [28] Whether swallowed Livagen reaches the blood has never been measured. See routes.

How long does Livagen take to work?

Nobody knows. The patent measured blood tests at the end of courses lasting 10–40 days and did not report when changes began. [1] Forum accounts range from pain relief within minutes of an injection to liver enzymes that changed within days, but each person was taking other products too. [47], [22], [46] In community education groups, educators say benefits take years, which makes the question impossible to answer from experience. See community reports.

Is Livagen approved in Russia?

We found no evidence that it is. It has no entry in the Vidal drug directory, the one named manufacturer we could check does not list it, and Russia's state drug register could not be searched. [32], [29] The 2003 report from the developer network recommended clinical trials rather than describing an approved product. [5] Website claims of a “Russian-registered” capsule could not be confirmed. [25] See legal status.

Is it legal to buy Livagen?

It depends on the country, but it is not an approved medicine anywhere we checked. It is not FDA-approved in the United States, and Health Canada lists it among seized unauthorized injectable peptides; injectable peptides are prescription drugs in Canada. [92], [75] A “research use only” label does not make a product legal to sell for human use, or safe. See the dated legal-status summary.

Glossary

Plain explanations of the route, dosing and research terms used in this guide. Underlined terms in the text link here.

Adverse event

A harmful or unwanted medical event reported after someone used a treatment. A report alone does not prove the treatment caused it.

ALT (alanine aminotransferase)

An enzyme made mainly in liver cells. When liver cells are damaged it leaks into the blood, so a high blood level is a common sign of liver stress. Levels also vary from test to test.

Amino acid

A small chemical building block. Chains of amino acids make up peptides and proteins. Livagen is made of four: lysine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid and alanine.

Animal study

Research in animals such as rats or mice. It shows what a substance does in a living body, but results in people can differ.

Bilirubin

A yellow substance made when old red blood cells are broken down. The liver clears it, so a high blood level can be a sign of liver trouble.

Bioavailability

How much of a dose reaches the bloodstream in a usable form. It depends heavily on the route. For Livagen it has not been measured by any route.

Bioregulator

The name a Russian research group uses for very short peptides it believes act on particular organs. It is a marketing and research label, not a regulatory category.

Cell study (in vitro)

Research on cells grown in a dish. It gives early clues about biology, but it is far from proof of benefit in people.

Chromatin

DNA wound around packaging proteins inside the cell nucleus. Tightly packed chromatin keeps genes switched off; loosened chromatin lets them be read.

Compounding

A pharmacy making a medicine for an individual patient from raw ingredients. In the US, pharmacies may only compound with bulk ingredients on FDA's allowed lists; Livagen is not on them.

Controlled trial

A study that compares people who receive a treatment with a similar group who do not, often receiving a placebo instead. Randomly assigning people to each group makes the comparison fairer.

Course and cycle

A course is the period of repeated use, such as 10 days. A cycle is a course plus a planned break before any further use.

Daily total

All the amounts given in one day, added together. For example, 1 mg twice daily is a 2 mg daily total.

Dose (amount each time)

The amount given on one occasion. A protocol lists both the dose and how often it is given.

Enkephalins

Small pain-relieving signals the body makes itself, which act on the same receptors as opioid drugs. Enzymes in the blood break them down quickly.

Explant

A small piece of tissue taken from an animal and kept alive in a dish, so researchers can watch how it grows.

Half-life

The time it takes for the measured level of a substance in the blood to fall by half. It is not the same as how long an effect lasts. Livagen's has not been measured.

Hepatitis

Inflammation of the liver, caused by viruses, alcohol, medicines, toxins or the immune system. Chronic persistent hepatitis is an older term for long-lasting, milder liver inflammation.

Hepatocyte

The main working cell of the liver. Hepatocytes make proteins, process nutrients and medicines, and clear waste such as bilirubin.

Immunoglobulin (IgA, IgG, IgM)

Antibodies, the proteins the immune system uses to tag germs. Their blood levels are measured as a general sign of immune activity or inflammation.

Intramuscular (IM)

Injected into a muscle. The patent's hepatitis patients received Livagen this way.

Investigational

Still being studied and not approved by a regulator, such as the FDA, to treat any condition.

Freeze-dried (lyophilized)

Dried by freezing and removing the water, leaving a powder. Livagen vials are sold this way and mixed with liquid before injection.

mcg and mg

Micrograms and milligrams. 1 mg equals 1,000 mcg. Livagen amounts range from 1 mcg in rat studies to 25 mg per injection on some websites, so check which unit a page means.

Oral

Taken by mouth, as a capsule, tablet or liquid.

Peptide

A short chain of amino acids. Livagen is a chain of four, called a tetrapeptide.

Pharmacokinetics

How the body absorbs, moves, breaks down and removes a substance. For Livagen, no data exist in any species.

Placebo

A dummy treatment with no active ingredient, used as a comparison in studies. No Livagen study in people used one.

Preclinical research

Studies done before research in people: cell studies, tissue cultures, computer models and animal studies.

Reconstitution

Mixing a freeze-dried powder with a liquid so it can be measured and injected. The amount of liquid sets how much peptide each unit holds.

Research use only

A label on products sold for laboratory research. It does not mean a product is approved, tested for human use or legal to sell as a medicine.

Subcutaneous (SC)

Injected into the fatty layer just under the skin. This is the route most people who use Livagen describe.

Syringe units

Markings on an insulin syringe that measure volume. On a U-100 syringe, 100 units equal 1 mL. The amount of drug per unit depends on the vial's concentration.

Titration

Adjusting a dose in steps, usually starting lower and increasing if needed.

WADA

The World Anti-Doping Agency, which publishes the list of substances banned in sport.

Explore more of the research

Go deeper into the experiments behind the claims.

Across this guide, the citations include 21 original scientific papers on Livagen: 16 cell and tissue studies (most using human white blood cells in a dish), two animal studies (rats and fruit flies), one laboratory enzyme study and two computer-modelling papers. The patent examples and two conference abstracts are counted separately. Paper counts are not counts of independent research teams: nearly all come from the developer's network and one collaborating laboratory.

How this guide was researched

This guide is built from a thorough review of the sources cited throughout it: published scientific studies, the developer's patents, conference abstracts, trial-registry searches, regulatory documents and published protocol descriptions. We also reviewed public online forums and community education groups where people describe their own experiences with Livagen.

The guide cites 122 sources, including 21 original scientific papers on Livagen and 3 human studies of the compared peptides. Each type of source answers a different question. Studies show what researchers measured. Protocol descriptions show how Livagen is typically used. Personal accounts show what individual people experienced. Every numbered citation links to its entry below, labeled by source type.

How this guide was made

Research and drafting were AI-assisted. Every cited source was checked against the original, and the guide was reviewed and edited by Doserly before publication. It has not had an independent clinical review, and Doserly does not currently have medical reviewers. Doserly makes a medication and health-tracking app and runs Doserly Academy, both of which are promoted in this guide. Read our editorial policy for how guides are researched, updated and corrected.

This guide is for educational purposes. It summarizes what the reviewed sources report so the research is easier to understand; it is not medical advice. For a deeper dive, or to check any point for yourself, go straight to the cited sources.

Explore the sources