Cardiogen

What Is Cardiogen?

Cardiogen is the Khavinson cardiac bioregulator: the synthetic tetrapeptide Ala-Glu-Asp-Arg (AEDR), modelled on the active fraction of the polypeptide complex originally extracted from bovine cardiac tissue at the St Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology under Vladimir Khavinson. It belongs to the Khavinson short-peptide series alongside Epithalon (AEDG, pineal), Vilon (KE, immune), Thymogen (EW, immune), Cartalax (AED, cartilage), Livagen (KEDA, liver), Bronchogen (AEDL, bronchopulmonary), and Testagen (KEDG, testes).

The proposed mechanism follows the Khavinson bioregulator paradigm: tissue-targeted short peptides that bind regulatory regions of DNA in their target cell population. The group's molecular work describes direct interaction of these peptides with histone-bound chromatin and promoter sequences of tissue-specific genes, shifting gene expression in cardiomyocytes and surrounding cardiac tissue toward a younger pattern. Published Khavinson-group work in aged-rat cardiac tissue and isolated cardiomyocyte models reports restored expression of contractile-protein genes (a myosin heavy chain isoform shift back toward alpha-MHC from the senescent beta-MHC pattern), normalised calcium-handling protein expression (SERCA2a, phospholamban), reduced markers of cardiomyocyte apoptosis after ischaemic stress, improved contractile metrics in animal models, and restoration of cardiac antioxidant enzymes (SOD, catalase, glutathione peroxidase) toward younger baselines. Some Russian-language work also reports improved endothelial nitric-oxide signalling. Almost all of the evidence is from the originating institute and has not been independently replicated.