If you have been reading about counterion and want a single page that covers the useful parts, this is it: definitions, context, how it is studied, and the questions that come up repeatedly.
Last reviewed on 2026-03-04. Where a claim depends on a specific study, the study is described rather than over-claimed.
Pharmacokinetic accounts emphasize rapid breakdown. After intravenous dosing the intact peptide disappears from blood within minutes, and nasal delivery produces low but measurable concentrations. Metabolites rather than the parent molecule may account for part of the observed activity, although the relative contribution is unresolved. Dosing in the literature varies widely and no optimal schedule has been agreed. These gaps are regularly cited as a reason the findings have not produced broad clinical adoption beyond the original research setting.
Proposed mechanisms center on neurotrophic signaling rather than on classical melanocortin receptor activation. Rodent experiments have reported shifts in the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor after administration, together with changes in the associated receptor systems. Several authors argue that the peptide acts largely through its degradation products and their interaction with peptidergic pathways, but this remains a hypothesis rather than a settled finding. No single molecular target has been identified in a way that the field broadly accepts.
Published research covers ischemic stroke, traumatic brain injury, cognitive impairment, optic nerve conditions and attention-related measures. Much of the human evidence comes from small trials conducted in one country, which limits how far the results generalize. Animal models supply the larger share of the data, and effects seen in rodents do not transfer automatically to people. Reviews have noted that methodological reporting is often incomplete, making it difficult to pool results or compare treatment schedules across studies.
Quality documentation for research-grade peptide usually includes a certificate of analysis stating purity, identity, and residual counterion content. Batch-to-batch variation in purity and salt form is a recognized issue, and comparisons across suppliers require attention to the exact counterion, for example acetate versus trifluoroacetate. Sequence verification by tandem mass spectrometry provides stronger evidence than a single mass measurement. For any study reporting biological results, the analytical method and the measured purity should be stated explicitly. Independent verification of supplier claims is considered good practice.
Semax is supplied as a lyophilized powder that appears white to off-white. It dissolves readily in water, phosphate-buffered saline, and other aqueous media, which simplifies preparation of working solutions for laboratory use. The nasal products registered in Russia are dilute aqueous solutions, typically around 0.1 percent peptide by weight. Organic solvents are rarely necessary and can complicate handling. Because the peptide is hygroscopic, weighing should be performed quickly and with minimal exposure to ambient humidity.
Solid material is normally kept at minus 20 degrees Celsius in a sealed, desiccated container. Reconstituted solutions are less stable and are usually divided into single-use aliquots before freezing. Repeated freeze-thaw cycles are avoided because they promote aggregation and loss of activity. Light exposure is minimized by using amber glassware or foil wrapping. Published stability data for this peptide are sparse, so recommended storage conditions rest mainly on general practice for short synthetic peptides rather than on dedicated study.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Primary research models | Rodent studies | Largest share of published data |
| Reported markers | BDNF and NGF expression | Measured mainly in animal tissue |
| Common administration | Intranasal | Matches the registered formulation |
| Blood residence time | Minutes | Rapid enzymatic degradation |
| Evidence quality | Small trials, limited replication | Noted repeatedly in reviews |
Published research has focused mainly on neurological and cognitive endpoints in animal models, with proposed mechanisms involving brain-derived neurotrophic factor and related signalling pathways. A substantial share of the human data originates from a limited number of research groups, and independent replication in other countries remains sparse. Regulatory status reflects that distribution: the peptide is registered as a medicine in Russia and appears in some neighbouring markets, while elsewhere it is handled as a research chemical without approved therapeutic labelling. Questions about dose-response relationships, long-term effects, and comparability across studies are still open.
Lyophilised powder is normally kept at -20 °C in a desiccated container, with some suppliers recommending -80 °C for long-term archival storage. Repeated freeze-thaw cycles are the most common cause of avoidable loss, so aliquoting before freezing reduces variability between working sessions. Dissolved peptide is far less stable than the dry solid and is usually prepared fresh or held briefly at 4 °C. Aqueous solutions support both hydrolysis of the backbone and oxidation of the N-terminal methionine, and these two routes dominate degradation under ordinary laboratory conditions.
Identity and purity are confirmed with reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, typically monitored at 214 nanometres where the peptide bond absorbs. Mass spectrometry, either electrospray or MALDI-TOF, verifies molecular mass against the theoretical value and detects truncation or adduct formation. Amino acid analysis and peptide mapping provide additional confirmation when required. The most frequently reported impurities are deletion sequences from incomplete coupling, methionine sulfoxide from oxidation, and dimeric species formed through non-covalent aggregation. Impurity profiles depend strongly on the synthesis and purification route chosen by the producer.
Verification of a supplied batch generally combines a certificate of analysis with independent testing, because certificates are self-reported documents. A typical package includes a chromatographic trace, a mass spectrum, and a stated water or counter-ion content. Batch-to-batch consistency matters more than a single purity figure when results are compared across experiments. No single mandatory standard governs research-grade peptide release, so laboratories are expected to define their own acceptance criteria. Residual trifluoroacetate from purification is a frequently overlooked counter-ion.
Lyophilized material is chemically stable for extended periods when kept dry, cold, and protected from light. The powder is hygroscopic, so vials should be warmed to room temperature before opening to reduce condensation on the contents. Once dissolved, the peptide is far less stable because peptide bonds are susceptible to hydrolysis and the methionine residue can oxidize. Solutions are typically aliquoted and held at 2-8 °C for short intervals or frozen for longer ones, and repeated freeze-thaw cycles should be avoided.
Routine characterization relies on reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography to establish purity and on mass spectrometry to confirm molecular identity. Electrospray ionization and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization are both used for mass verification. Amino acid analysis and peptide mapping can detect sequence errors. Common impurities include truncated sequences, methionine sulfoxide formed by oxidation, and deamidated products. Chromatograms are usually recorded near 214 nm, where the peptide backbone absorbs, and purity is reported as the percentage area of the principal peak.
Selenium at The Periodic Table of Videos (University of Nottingham) National Institutes of Health page on Selenium Assay Archived 2012-02-26 at the Wayback Machine ATSDR – Toxicological Profile: Selenium CDC – NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards Peter van der Krogt elements site
== Definition == A botanical drug product is defined in the United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C) as a botanical drug that is marketed as diagnosing, mitigating, treating, or curing a disease; a botanical product in turn, is a finished, labeled product that contains vegetable matter as ingredients. Chemicals that are purified from plants, like paclitaxel or artemisinin, and highly purified products of industrial fermentation, like biopharmaceuticals, are not considered to be botanical products. The FD&C act separately regulates uses of botanical products as food (including dietary supplements), medical devices (e.g., gutta-percha), and cosmetics.
=== Mass spectrometer === Quadrupole, magnetic sector, and time-of-flight (TOF) are the three mass spectrometers (MS) used in SIMS. For SSIMS, the primary requirement is low primary-ion flux density, which results in extremely low secondary ion yield (10−3 – 10−8 atoms/cm3). Hence, there is a need to collect almost all the secondary ions. High transmission (0.5–1) of TOF maximizes the sensitivity (104 times that of quadrupole MS). Parallel detection together with reasonable mass resolution and high mass range (m/z > 103) are among its other major advantages. Ions are accelerated to a given potential so that they have the same kinetic energy, resulting in ions of different mass:charge (m/e) ratio having different velocities. These ions then pass through a region of field-free space in the flight tube, and spread out in time, with the higher-mass ions arriving later at the end of the flight tube, where a time-sensitive detection system produces a mass spectrum. The primary ions are pulsed into short bursts of less than 10 ns (the time scale of secondary-ion emission after impact is negligible (<10−12 s)). The primary beam is pulsed by a rapid deflection across a small aperture or by off-axis deflection, followed by a curved magnetic field to compress the pulse in space. There are very high accelerating fields at the sample (high extraction voltage and small (mm) extraction gaps) to reduce the initial energy spread of the secondary ions. Some TOF systems further compensate for this energy spread by using nonlinear flight tubes.
==== Albums and EPs ==== Chain, a 1989 album by Paul Haig Chain (The Family Stand album), 1990 Chain (Pylon album), 1990 Chains (album), by Yōko Oginome, 1997 Chain (Bonnie Pink EP), 2008 Chain (KAT-TUN album), 2012 Chain (NCT 127 EP), 2018
From the late 17th century, the Mughal Empire gradually began to disintegrate, and these local elites and communities frequently gained greater autonomy and self-governance. By the early 18th century, the lines between commercial enterprise and political sovereignty had become increasingly blurred. European chartered companies solidified their presence in India through fortified coastal outposts; most notable was the English East India Company. Its control of the seas, greater resources, and more advanced military training and technology led it to assert its military strength increasingly and caused it to become attractive to a portion of the Indian elite; these factors were crucial in allowing the company to gain control over the Bengal region by 1765 and sideline the other European companies. Its further access to the riches of Bengal and the subsequent increased strength and size of its army enabled it to annexe or subdue most of India by the 1820s. India no longer exported manufactured goods as it long had, but instead supplied the British Empire with raw materials. Many historians consider this to be the onset of India's colonial period. By this time, with its economic power severely curtailed by the British Parliament and having effectively been made an arm of British administration, the East India Company began more consciously to enter non-economic arenas, including education, social reform, and culture.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
== Prognosis == The availability of treatments that modify the course of multiple sclerosis beginning in the 1990s, known as disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), has improved prognosis. These treatments can reduce relapses and slow progression, but there is no cure. Before the advent of these medications, it took around 15 years before relapsing-remitting MS progressed to secondary progressive MS (which has associated mobility issues). With these medications, the progression is slower to 40 years. The prognosis of MS depends on the subtype of the disease, and there is considerable individual variation in the progression of the disease. In relapsing MS, the most common subtype, a 2016 cohort study found that after a median of 16.8 years from onset, one in ten needed a walking aid, and almost two in ten transitioned to secondary progressive MS, a form characterized by more progressive decline. With treatments available in the 2020s, relapses can be eliminated or substantially reduced. However, "silent progression" of the disease still occurs. In addition to secondary progressive MS (SPMS), a small proportion of people with MS (10–15%) experience progressive decline from the onset, known as primary progressive MS (PPMS). Most treatments have been approved for use in relapsing MS; there are fewer treatments with lower efficacy for progressive forms of MS. The prognosis for progressive MS is worse, with faster accumulation of disability, though with considerable individual variation.
The most abundant mass is the location of the most abundant peak of an isotopometric cluster, as observed by mass spectrometry. Because it is an observed value, it is affected by the resolution of the spectrometer being used. This value can be theoretically calculated by first obtaining a list of exact peaks using the natural abundances of the isotopes, then applying a blurring/smearing operation to simulate the resolution of the actual instrument. This is also called "isotope cluster prediction". Because isotopes differ in mass from each other by a nearly integer amount of Da, the peaks also tend to occur in spacings of 1 Da: this leads to the observed clustering. The most abundant mass tends to be different from the monoisotopic mass for larger molecules: the more atoms there are, the higher the chances that there is at least one atom that is not the most abundant isotope (see the negative binomial distribution). As a result it is important in the identification of larger molecules. There are pre-calculated tables (derived from a binomial distribution) that allow for efficient hand-calculation of the most abundant mass to an integer precision.
Bromperidol decanoate, sold under the brand names Bromidol Depot, Bromodol Decanoato, and Impromen Decanoas, is an antipsychotic which has been marketed in Europe and Latin America. It is an antipsychotic ester and long-acting prodrug of bromperidol which is administered by depot intramuscular injection once every 4 weeks.
Men: 13.8 to 18.0 g/dL (138 to 180 g/L, or 8.56 to 11.17 mmol/L) Women: 12.1 to 15.1 g/dL (121 to 151 g/L, or 7.51 to 9.37 mmol/L) Children: 11 to 16 g/dL (110 to 160 g/L, or 6.83 to 9.93 mmol/L) Pregnant women: 11 to 14 g/dL (110 to 140 g/L, or 6.83 to 8.69 mmol/L) (9.5 to 15 usual value during pregnancy) Normal values of hemoglobin in the 1st and 3rd trimesters of pregnant women must be at least 11 g/dL and at least 10.5 g/dL during the 2nd trimester. Dehydration or hyperhydration can greatly influence measured hemoglobin levels. Albumin can indicate hydration status. If the concentration is below normal, this is called anemia. Anemias are classified by the size of red blood cells, the cells that contain hemoglobin in vertebrates. The anemia is called "microcytic" if red cells are small, "macrocytic" if they are large, and "normocytic" otherwise. Hematocrit, the proportion of blood volume occupied by red blood cells, is typically about three times the hemoglobin concentration measured in g/dL. For example, if the hemoglobin is measured at 17 g/dL, that compares with a hematocrit of 51%. Laboratory hemoglobin test methods require a blood sample (arterial, venous, or capillary) and analysis on hematology analyzer and CO-oximeter. Additionally, a new noninvasive hemoglobin (SpHb) test method called Pulse CO-Oximetry is also available with comparable accuracy to invasive methods. Concentrations of oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin can be measured continuously, regionally and noninvasively using NIRS. NIRS can be used both on the head and on muscles.
I think "Sickman" is not that bad. I thought most of the hassle would come from "Junkhead" and "Godsmack". Those songs are put in sequence on the second side those five songs from "Junkhead" to "Angry Chair" for a reason: Because it tells a story. It starts out with a really young naive attitude with "Junkhead", like drugs are great, sex is great, rock'n' roll, yeah! Then, as it progresses, there's a little bit of growing up and a little bit of a realization of what it's about, and that ain't what it's about. I've been using this phrase a lot, but it makes a lot of sense: It's really easy to die; it's really hard to live. It takes a lot of guts to live. It doesn't take a lot of guts to die. Those five and "Sickman" are the only ones talking about that type of mentality [drugs]. The rest of the stuff is not like that at all. "Rain When I Die" is a song to a girl. There's a lot of stuff on it. A good portion of it is a story, and it's meant to be that way. It's kind of overwhelming and unpleasant at times, unsettling maybe, but that's why all those songs are together. Even if it's disturbing, it's not something anybody else needs to worry about or the way somebody else needs to live their life. In the liner notes of 1999's Music Bank box set collection, Cantrell cited "Junkhead" and "God Smack" as "the most openly honest" songs about drug use. Cantrell said he wrote "Them Bones" about "mortality, that one of these days we'll end up a pile of bones." He told RIP magazine in 1993: "'Them Bones' is pretty cut and dried.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Levosimendan (INN) is a calcium sensitizer used in the management of acutely decompensated congestive heart failure. It is marketed under the trade name Simdax (Orion Corporation). Overall the drug has a two fold mechanism of action. It leads to greater inotropy by increasing the calcium sensitivity as it binds to troponin and this results in a greater positive inotrophic force. Secondly, the drug is able to open ATP-sensitive potassium channels in vascular smooth muscle cells, and the vascular dilatory effects of the drug lead to a decreased preload and afterload, putting less work on the heart. This drug is in the process of review by the FDA but has not been approved for use in the United States yet.
==== Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ==== It has been shown that amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is clearly linked to changes in glutamate signaling and glutathione levels; there is also an astrocytic component linked to the disease. All of these factors suggest that a dysfunction in system Xc- may contribute to ALS. It has been observed that an increase in the expression of Nrf2, a transcription factor for system Xc-, leads to a protective effect in mice with ALS symptoms.
It contained a "Mother's Room" in the tower for Eddy's personal use, furnished with rare books, silks, tapestries, rugs, a dressing gown and slippers, though she spent only one night there and it was later turned into a storage room. The archway into the room was made of Italian marble, and the word Mother was engraved on the floor. Within two years the Boston membership had exceeded the original church's capacity. By 1903 the block around the church had been purchased by Christian Scientists, and in 1906 the Mother Church Extension, accommodating 5,000 people, was completed at a cost of $2 million. This attracted the criticism that, whereas Christian Scientists spent money on a magnificent church, they maintained no hospitals, orphanages or missions in the slums. Christian Science went on to become the fastest-growing American religion in the early 20th century. The federal religious census recorded 85,717 Christian Scientists in 1906; 30 years later it was 268,915. In 1890 there were seven Christian Science churches in the United States, a figure that had risen to 1,104 by 1910. Churches began to appear in other countries too: 58 in England, 38 in Canada and 28 elsewhere by 1910.
==== Breast-filler toxicity ==== Biological risks to the health of a sucking infant arise from the possibility of breast-filler toxicity, that the filler-material (saline solution or silicone gel) might leak from the breast-implant into the body of the mother, then into her breast milk, and then into the infant organism; yet the biological risk to the breastfeeding infant is minimal, because silicone is indigestible and saline-solution is digestible. The study Silicone Breast Implants and Breastfeeding (1996) indicated that possible medical complications that impede breastfeeding can arise among women with silicone-filled prosthetic breasts, and found no causal relation between the presence of breast prostheses and neurological and physical impairment of the breastfeeding function of the augmented breasts.
The ionization efficiency of DESI is complex and depends on several parameters such as, surface effects, electrospray parameters, chemical parameters and geometric parameters. Surface effects include chemical composition, temperature and electric potential applied. Electrospray parameters include electrospray voltage, gas and liquid flow rates. Chemical parameters refers to the sprayed solvent composition, e.g. addition of NaCl. Geometric parameters are α, β, d1 and d2 (see figure on the right). Furthermore, α and d1 affect the ionization efficiency, while β and d2 affect the collection efficiency. Results of a test performed on a variety of molecules to determine optimal α and d1 values show that there are two sets of molecules: high molecular weight (proteins, peptides, oligosaccharide etc.) and low molecular weight (diazo dye, stereoids, caffeine, nitroaromatics etc.). The optimal conditions for the high molecular weight group are high incident angles (70–90°) and short d1 distances (1–3 mm). The optimal conditions for the low molecular weight group are the opposite, low incident angles (35–50°) and long d1 distances (7–10 mm). These test results indicate that each group of molecules has a different ionization mechanism; described in detail in the Principle of operation section. The sprayer tip and the surface holder are both attached to a 3D moving stage which allow to select specific values for the four geometric parameters: α, β, d1 and d2.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
The main proposal is modulation of neurotrophic factors such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor, supported largely by animal experiments. Receptor-level targets have not been firmly established. Most reviews describe the mechanism as only partially characterized.
The compound is registered as a medicine in Russia, so clinical work has concentrated there. Trials elsewhere are few and generally small. This geographic concentration is a recognized limitation in evidence reviews.
Some fraction may reach the central nervous system through olfactory pathways, and this is often cited as the rationale for the nasal route. The size of that fraction in humans is not well quantified. Blood concentrations after nasal dosing are low, which complicates measurement.
Solid peptide is best kept frozen at about minus 20 degrees Celsius in a sealed container with desiccant. It should be allowed to reach room temperature before opening to prevent condensation. Repeated warming and cooling of the same vial is discouraged.