Vilon

Vilon is a synthetic dipeptide (two amino acids: Lys-Glu, also written KE) from Khavinson's short-peptide programme at the St Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, where it is described as a thymic peptide. The same group developed Thymalin, a calf thymus extract, and reports KE as one of its active parts. Studies are mainly in cells and rodents. In lab cultures of rat thymus and spleen tissue it changed tissue growth, with different results in tissue from newborn and three-week-old rats. In a lifelong study of female mice, Lys-Glu did not clearly change body weight, while treated mice were more active and had fewer lung adenomas, a benign lung tumour (Anisimov et al., 2001). In a mouse model of chemically caused tumours, fewer treated mice developed tumours than controls (Pliss et al., 2005). In human stem cells grown in the lab it changed the activity of SIRT1 and PARP genes. Human reports are Russian studies, for example in people with type 1 diabetes measuring blood clotting markers, with few design details given. Nearly all studies come from one research network and have not been independently repeated. Whether the findings apply to people is not known. Supplied for laboratory research use only.