Is the hype around PE 22-28 getting ahead of the actual science?

Posted by data_swims in Research & News - 4 points, 0 comments.

I was reading up on some of the latest preclinical stuff regarding PE 22-28 lately and it really got me thinking about how we talk about neuroplasticity in these circles. It is a spadin derived peptide that targets those TREK-1 potassium channels to try and boost serotonin signaling and synaptogenesis, and the idea of a fast acting antidepressant that works way quicker than the old school SSRIs is obviously super appealing for anyone interested in cognitive health.

But I kind of feel like the community gets a little ahead of itself sometimes with these compounds. For me, it feels like we see these animal models or early bench research and immediately start looking for ways to integrate it into a stack, but we really have no idea about the human safety profile or how the half life actually plays out in a person. It is a huge jump from showing neurogenesis in a lab setting to actually helping a human with mood regulation without causing some weird side effect we haven't even mapped out yet.

Does anyone else feel like we should be more skeptical of these fast acting neuroplasticity agents until we see more actual human data?

Community discussion - research and educational context only. Not medical advice.