Cartalax (AED)
Ala-Glu-Asp tripeptide · Khavinson cartilage and joint bioregulator
Cartalax is a three-amino-acid peptide (Ala-Glu-Asp) that Vladimir Khavinson's St. Petersburg institute modeled on a cartilage extract. People run it for joints and cartilage. In aging human stem cells it switched on cartilage-building genes.
At a glance
- Dose
- 500–1,000 mcg a day
- How often
- Once a day during the course
- How
- A small injection under the skin
- When
- Any time of day, held to the same hour
- Cycle
- About 10 days on, then a 4–6 month break
The 30-second versionEverything on this page, fast
Cartilage and Joints · Khavinson Bioregulator · Tripeptide · Short Courses
The cartilage peptide of the Khavinson line. In aging human stem cells it switched on cartilage-building genes, and in aging cartilage cells it reset the aging profile. People run it in short courses for joint support.
The basics
- A synthetic three-amino-acid peptide (Ala-Glu-Asp, AED) from Vladimir Khavinson's St. Petersburg institute, modeled on a cartilage extract.
- The cartilage and joint piece of a tissue-by-tissue Khavinson routine, run in short courses.
Why people use it
- Cartilage-building genes switched on. Its core result, in aging stem cells that can become cartilage.
- A younger profile in aging cartilage cells. It calmed the aging and inflammation signals that build up in old chondrocytes.
- Skin collagen and bone too. Its skin-cell and rat bone-density results reach past cartilage.
- Short, low-burden courses. About 10 days on, then a long break.
Stacks well with
- BPC-157 is the repair partner. It grows new blood supply and speeds tendon and ligament healing while Cartalax works the cartilage cells.
- The Khavinson family (Epitalon, Thymalin) is the within-school combination, one peptide per tissue, each on its own course.
Good to know
- Run it as short, pulsed courses with a long break between them, not continuously.
- Papers also call it T-31, and PubChem lists it as alanyl-glutamyl-aspartic acid.
- Sigumir is a different product, a polypeptide complex from young animals' cartilage and bone. Cartalax is the single tripeptide.
What it does
Cartalax is the cartilage piece of the Khavinson line. Here is what its cell and rat studies found.
- Switches on cartilage-building genesIn aging human stem cells, 200 ng/mL raised SOX9, aggrecan, type II collagen and COMP; the extract needed 2,000 ng/mL.
- Resets the aging profile of cartilage cellsIn cultured aging cartilage cells, where p16, p53, TNF-α and IL-1α climb and Sirt1 falls, AED normalized that profile.
- Boosts IGF1, a key growth signalIn two aging models of human bone-marrow stem cells, AED raised IGF1 gene activity 4.6 and 5.6 times.
- More collagen from aging skin cellsIn aged human skin fibroblasts, 20 ng/mL raised collagen I 2.7-fold and sirtuin-6, an aging-linked enzyme, 11.5-fold.
- Helps hold bone densityIn rats with ovaries removed, 10 µg daily for a month, started a month after surgery, raised bone density 6.4%.
Sources:PMID 37782646PMID 37356100PMID 32399807PMID 33231794PMID 18306703
How it works
Resets aging cartilage cells. With age, chondrocytes, the cells that build cartilage, make more p16, p21 and p53 (cell-aging and cell-death signals) and more TNF-α and IL-1α (inflammation signals), and less Sirt1, a longevity enzyme. In culture, AED brought that profile back toward normal.
Steers stem cells toward cartilage. In aging human mesenchymal stem cells, which can become cartilage, bone or fat, AED raised four markers of cartilage formation, including SOX9 and type II collagen. In bone-marrow stem cells it raised IGF1, a growth signal.
A gene-level model. The Khavinson school proposes that short peptides like AED enter the nucleus and bind DNA. Computer models dock AED onto specific DNA sequences.
Sources:PMID 37356100PMID 37782646PMID 32399807PMID 27909961PMID 25946838
How to dose it
Most people run Cartalax as a small injection under the skin, once a day, in short courses.
Dose tiersMost people run 500 to 1,000 mcg per injection, once a day.
- Low:
- 500 mcg once daily, for a first course or a lighter run.
- Standard:
- 1,000 mcg once daily, the top of the usual Khavinson range for short peptides of this size.
- Route:
- An injection under the skin, once a day through the course. Splitting the dose is not part of the usual protocol.
How to injectAn injection into belly, love-handle or thigh fat, rotated between doses.
- Injection site:
- Abdomen (a couple of inches clear of the navel), love handles or outer thigh. Rotate sites to avoid irritation and lumps.
- Measuring the dose:
- On a U-100 insulin syringe. Mixing the vial below gives the units at the default mix.
- Time of day:
- Any time; hold one daily time through the course (see Best time to take it below).
- Food window:
- Inject with or without food.
Cycle and breaksShort daily courses with a long break between them, the Khavinson pattern.
- Course length:
- About 10 days of daily injections, the classic Khavinson course. The old-rat kidney study also ran 10 daily doses.
- Washout:
- At least 4–6 months before the next course, the school's twice-yearly rhythm.
- Why so short:
- The school holds that a short course sets off a lasting change in gene activity, so nonstop dosing isn't needed.
Mixing the vialThe default is a 20 mg vial with 2 mL of bacteriostatic water.
- Mixing:
- That makes 10,000 mcg per mL. Each unit holds 100 mcg, so 500 mcg takes 5 units and 1,000 mcg takes 10 units.
- One vial, one course:
- A 10-day course uses 5 mg at 500 mcg or 10 mg at 1,000 mcg. A mixed vial keeps about 4 weeks, so leftovers won't reach the next course.
Sources:PMID 30607912
Best time to take it
Implied best time
Anytime (consistent)
Time of day doesn't matter much. Pick one daily time for the course and hold it.
- No half-life is on record, so there is no clearance curve to time a dose against. Day-to-day consistency matters more than the hour.
- Its studied effects are slow shifts in cartilage and stem-cell gene activity, with no link to time of day shown.
- The rat kidney studies dosed once a day, one of them each morning, so morning makes an easy default.
Sources:PMID 26515176PMID 30607912
What to stack it with
Cartalax works on cartilage cells. Its best partners repair the tissue around the joint or cover other organs.
Cartalax + BPC-157The repair pairing. Cartalax works the cartilage cells, BPC-157 the blood supply and tendons.
- Why it works:
- BPC-157 grows new blood supply and speeds tendon and ligament repair. Cartalax switched on cartilage genes in stem cells, a separate lever.
- The protocol:
- Cartalax 500–1,000 mcg under the skin once daily for about 10 days, with BPC-157 at 250–500 mcg a day on its own 4–6 week cycle.
Cartalax + Khavinson bioregulatorsThe within-school combination, one peptide per tissue, each on its own course.
- Why it works:
- Khavinson assigns Cartalax to cartilage, Epitalon to the pineal gland and aging, and Thymalin to the thymus. In that model each targets a different tissue.
- The protocol:
- Each runs its own course, usually one after another. Epitalon takes 5–10 mg a day for 10–20 days, Thymalin 5–10 mg a day into the muscle for 5–10 days.
- Outcome:
- People committed to the full Khavinson system run it as an organ-by-organ aging routine.
Support nutrients
Cartalax switched on collagen and cartilage genes and raised sirtuin enzymes. These supply and support that work.
Collagen and cartilage building blocksRaw material for the collagen and aggrecan that AED switched on.
- Vitamin C 500–1,000 mg:
- The enzymes that finish and cross-link new collagen need vitamin C. Split it morning and evening, since it clears in about 4 hours.
- Collagen peptides 10–15 g:
- Collagen is about one-third glycine, with plenty of proline. A daily serving supplies the amino acids new type I and type II collagen use.
- Glucosamine sulfate 1,500 mg:
- A building block for the sugar chains on aggrecan, the cartilage protein AED switched on in stem cells. Once daily with food.
Back the anti-aging signalsAED raised sirtuins and calmed aging cartilage cells. These work the same switches.
- NR 300 mg or NMN 250–500 mg:
- Nicotinamide riboside (NR) and nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) refill NAD+, which sirtuins use up each time they work. Take it in the morning.
- Omega-3 (EPA/DHA) 2–3 g combined:
- EPA and DHA (eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid) damp TNF-α and IL-1, the inflammation signals that climb in aging cartilage cells. Take with the fattiest meal.
Bone mineralsFor the bone-density result, the vitamins that move calcium into bone.
- Vitamin D3 2,000–5,000 IU + K2 (MK-7) 100–200 mcg:
- D3 drives calcium uptake and K2 activates the proteins that lay it into bone. Dose D3 to a sufficient blood level and take both with a fatty meal.
Dose calculator
Question 1 of 3
How much is in your vial?
Find the number next to mg on the Cartalax (AED) label.
Side effects and what to watch
What the studies show. Old rats given 10 daily doses kept kidney tissue normal for their age, and the authors found no sign of kidney toxicity.
How people handle it. Rotate injection sites between doses to avoid irritation and lumps.
Worth knowing. The peer-reviewed studies ran in cells and rats, so a human safety profile has not been mapped.
Sources:PMID 30607912
Common questions
What is Cartalax?
A synthetic tripeptide, Ala-Glu-Asp (AED), from Vladimir Khavinson's St. Petersburg institute and the line's cartilage peptide. Papers also call it T-31, and PubChem lists it as alanyl-glutamyl-aspartic acid.
How is Cartalax dosed?
Most people run 500–1,000 mcg once a day as a small injection under the skin, in courses of about 10 days.
Do I need to cycle Cartalax?
Yes. It runs as about 10 days of daily injections, then a break of at least 4–6 months, the Khavinson school's twice-yearly pattern.
What does Cartalax stack with?
BPC-157 is the repair partner, at its own 250–500 mcg a day. Within the Khavinson line, people add Epitalon or Thymalin, each on its own course.
How is Cartalax different from Sigumir?
Sigumir is a polypeptide complex taken from the cartilage and bone of young animals. Cartalax is one synthetic tripeptide, AED.
When should I take it?
Any time of day. Pick one daily time for the course and hold it.
Deep dive
Doses used in studies · Molecular identity · References
10From the researchDoses used in studies
These are the concentrations and doses used in the published cell and rat studies of AED.
| Dose | Route | Model | Outcome | Sources: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 200 ng/mL | In vitro (cell culture) | Human mesenchymal stem cells in replicative aging (Myakisheva 2023) | Raised gene expression and protein synthesis of SOX9, aggrecan, type II collagen and COMP; the cartilage polypeptide complex matched it at 2,000 ng/mL | PMID 37782646 |
| Not specified | In vitro (cell culture) | Aging chondrocytes, the cells that build cartilage (Myakisheva 2023) | Normalized the aging secretory profile, in which p16, p21, p53, TNF-α and IL-1α rise and Sirt1 falls | PMID 37356100 |
| 20 ng/mL | In vitro (cell culture) | Human embryonic bone-marrow mesenchymal stem cells (FetMSC line), passage and stationary aging models (Ashapkin 2020) | IGF1 gene expression 4.6-fold (passage) and 5.6-fold (stationary) above control; NF-κB gene expression up in both | PMID 32399807 |
| 20 ng/mL | In vitro (cell culture) | Human skin fibroblasts, young and aged cultures (Fridman 2020) | In aged cultures, collagen I 2.7-fold, SIRT1 2-fold and SIRT6 11.5-fold above control; IL-1, TGF-β and NF-κB unchanged | PMID 33231794 |
| 20 ng/mL | In vitro (cell culture) | Rat skin fibroblasts, young and aged cultures (Lin'kova 2016) | In aged cultures, MMP-9 3.43-fold and caspase-3 2.52-fold lower, Ki-67 1.60-fold and CD98hc 2.38-fold higher | PMID 27259496 |
| 20 ng/mL | In vitro (cell culture) | Rat kidney cells aged to passage 14 (Khavinson 2014) | p53, a cell-death marker, 1.33-fold lower; Ki-67 unchanged, while the kidney polypeptide complex doubled it | PMID 24958378 |
| 200 ng/mL for 1 hour | In vitro (cell culture) | Human thymocytes aged over 8 passages (Lin'kova 2011) | Moved CD8+ thymocytes toward maturity like AB-9, without AB-9's all-round effect; apoptosis unchanged | PMID 22238759 |
| 3 µg/kg once daily for 7 days (4 before and 3 after cisplatin) | Intraperitoneal injection | Rats with cisplatin-induced acute kidney failure (Zamorskii 2015) | Urine protein excretion 2.5-fold and urine protein 2-fold lower; filtration rate and creatinine not significantly improved, and EDL did more | PMID 26515176 |
| 3 µg/kg once daily for 10 days | Intraperitoneal injection | Old rats, 20 to 24 months (Zamorskii 2018) | Urine output 1.4-fold higher, urine protein 2.8-fold and protein excretion 2.3-fold lower; filtration and creatinine unchanged, kidney tissue normal for age | PMID 30607912 |
| 10 µg or 0.3 µg per rat once daily for 1 month | Intramuscular injection | Rats with ovaries removed, a menopause bone-loss model (Povorozniuk 2007; T-31 is the lab code for AED) | At 10 µg, started a month after surgery, raised bone mineral density 6.4% at two months; started at once, density rose at one month but fell below its starting level by two; 0.3 µg did not help; the cartilage-extract preparation worked better | PMID 18306703 |
11ChemistryMolecular identity
- Molecular formula
- C₁₂H₁₉N₃O₈
- Molecular weight
- 333.29 g/mol
- Monoisotopic mass
- 333.1172 Da
- Sequence (3 AA)
- Ala-Glu-Asp (AED), H-Ala-Glu-Asp-OH, all-LPubChem CID 87815447
- Structure / class
- Synthetic tripeptide; Khavinson bioregulator for cartilage, one of the short peptides in a cartilage polypeptide complexPMID 34834147; PMID 37176122
- PubChem CID
- 87815447 (alanyl-glutamyl-aspartic acid; 'Cartalax' and 'T-31 peptide' are listed synonyms)PubChem; MeSH C572340
- InChIKey
- KXEVYGKATAMXJJ-ACZMJKKPSA-NPubChem CID 87815447
- CAS / UNII
- 85806-95-7 · UNII not assignedPubChem CID 87815447 synonyms (CAS present; no UNII in record)
- Water solubility
- Freely water-soluble (small, highly polar free-acid tripeptide; reconstituted in bacteriostatic water)Structural inference (ionizable Glu/Asp side chains)
- Molecular target
- No classic receptor identified; proposed gene-expression regulator. Cell studies tie it to cartilage-forming genes (SOX9, aggrecan, type II collagen, COMP) and chondrocyte aging markersPMID 37782646; PMID 37356100
- Half-life
- Not established (no published pharmacokinetics)Not established
- Regulatory status
- Not approved by any major drug regulator; no peer-reviewed human trials locatedNo NDA/BLA/EMA record located
12Primary sourcesReferences
- PMID 37782646Myakisheva SN et al., Adv Gerontol 2023 (Russian). AED at 200 ng/mL raised SOX9, aggrecan, type II collagen and COMP in human mesenchymal stem cells during replicative aging; the cartilage polypeptide complex matched it at 2,000 ng/mL
- PMID 37356100Myakisheva SN et al., Adv Gerontol 2023 (Russian). AED and the cartilage polypeptide complex normalized the aging secretory profile of chondrocytes (p16, p21, p53, TNF-α, IL-1α, Sirt1)
- PMID 32399807Ashapkin V et al., Mol Biol Rep 2020. AED, KED and KE at 20 ng/mL in aging human bone-marrow stem cells (FetMSC); AED raised IGF1 expression 4.6 and 5.6-fold and NF-κB gene expression in both aging models
- PMID 33231794Fridman NV et al., Bull Exp Biol Med 2020. KE and AED at 20 ng/mL in human skin fibroblasts; in aged cultures AED raised collagen I 2.7-fold, SIRT1 2-fold and SIRT6 11.5-fold
- PMID 27259496Lin'kova NS et al., Bull Exp Biol Med 2016. KE, KED, AED and AEDG at 20 ng/mL in young and aged rat skin fibroblasts; AED lowered MMP-9 and caspase-3 and raised Ki-67 and CD98hc
- PMID 24958378Khavinson VK et al., Bull Exp Biol Med 2014. T-31 (AED) and T-35 (EDL) at 20 ng/mL in rat kidney cell cultures aged to passage 14; AED lowered p53 1.33-fold
- PMID 25946838Khavinson VK et al., Adv Gerontol 2014 (Russian). AED and EDL in young and aged renal cell cultures raised proliferation, lowered p16, p21 and p53 and raised SIRT-6; DNA docking models
- PMID 27909961Khavinson VK et al., Bull Exp Biol Med 2016. Docking models of 19 short peptides on DNA; KEDW and AED bind the ACCT sequence
- PMID 22238759Lin'kova NS et al., Bull Exp Biol Med 2011. Cartalax (T-31, H-Ala-Glu-Asp-OH), AB-17 and AB-9 at 200 ng/mL in aged human thymocyte cultures; only AB-9 had an all-round anti-aging effect
- PMID 26515176Zamorskii II et al., Bull Exp Biol Med 2015. AED 3 µg/kg intraperitoneally once daily for 7 days in rats with cisplatin-induced acute kidney failure; protein excretion 2.5-fold lower
- PMID 30607912Zamorskii II et al., Adv Gerontol 2018 (Russian). AED 3 µg/kg intraperitoneally once daily for 10 days in rats aged 20 to 24 months; urine protein 2.8-fold lower, kidney tissue normal for age
- PMID 18306703Povorozniuk VV et al., Adv Gerontol 2007 (Russian). T-31 (AED) and a cartilage-extract preparation in ovariectomized rats; both protected bone mineral density, the extract more strongly
- PMID 37782637Myakisheva SN et al., Adv Gerontol 2023 (Russian review). The chondrocyte aging profile in osteoarthritis; names the AED tripeptide (Kartalax) and Sigumir, a polypeptide complex of young animals' cartilage and bone
- PMID 34834147Khavinson VK et al., Molecules 2021. Systematic review of peptide regulation of gene expression; its table of short peptides lists AED as Cartalax, for cartilage and skin fibroblast functions
- PMID 37176122Linkova N et al., Int J Mol Sci 2023. Review of peptide regulation of chondrogenic stem cell differentiation; the cartilage polypeptide complex contains the AED tripeptide
- PubChem CID 87815447PubChem record for alanyl-glutamyl-aspartic acid (Ala-Glu-Asp); synonyms include Cartalax, T-31 peptide and CAS 85806-95-7
Research use only · Not medical advice · Updated 2026-11-05