An independent peptide reference — no sellers, every claim sourced

DSIP

Also known as Delta Sleep-Inducing Peptide, delta sleep-inducing peptide

1974 nonapeptide proposed as a sleep factor, but its sleep effects in humans are inconsistent.

early-clinical Neuro & cognition research chemical

At a glance

Category
Neuro & cognition
Status
research chemical
Route
intravenous in virtually all human studies; subcutaneous and sometimes intranasal on the grey market
Half-life
The widely repeated '15 minutes' figure is not a plasma half-life. Schoenenberger's 1984 characterisation gives 15 minutes as the half-life for proteolytic split-off of tryptophan by brain slices and homogenates 6 - a tissue degradation rate, not circulating survival. No human plasma half-life for DSIP was found. Rapid breakdown by aminopeptidase-like activity is expected but the number quoted for it is a misattribution
Onset
in the intravenous studies within the first hour, peaking around the second hour
Molecular weight
approximately 849 g/mol
Sequence
Trp-Ala-Gly-Gly-Asp-Ala-Ser-Gly-Glu

Not registered as a medicine anywhere in the world. Research stalled after small studies in the 1980s; no phase III programme was ever completed. Traded exclusively as a 'research chemical', not intended for human use.

Doping status: Not listed by name; as a non-approved substance it falls under S0 and is therefore prohibited at all times

Checked against the WADA 2026 Prohibited List. For a specific product and country, Global DRO is the lookup athletes are expected to use — the List names substances, not brand names.

Mechanism of action

DSIP was isolated in 1974 from cerebral venous blood of rabbits during electrically induced deep sleep. The name suggests an established function, but there is none.

No DSIP gene has ever been identified and no DSIP receptor has ever been cloned or characterised. After more than fifty years of research this remains unresolved. It has not even been established that DSIP is a genuine endogenous sleep factor.

Proposed and largely hypothetical mechanisms are modulation of NMDA signalling, influence on GABAergic tone, and interaction with endogenous opioid systems. The latter prompted the studies on withdrawal symptoms, but agonist activity at opiate receptors has not been demonstrated.

Mainly Soviet and Russian rodent research additionally yields claims of stress protection and anticonvulsant, antioxidant and immunomodulatory effects. One striking observation is that synthetic DSIP analogues showed stronger sleep effects than DSIP itself in some research - which argues against a specific physiological sleep mechanism for the natural peptide.

What the research shows

The sleep effects of DSIP in humans are inconsistent and not reproducible. The positive results come from the earliest and weakest studies (n=6 and an open-label study with n=7); the two studies that were designed double-blind were in effect negative. There is no credible modern evidence that DSIP improves sleep in humans.

Research in humans

The entire human evidence base consists of five to seven small studies from 1981-1992 out of one or two European research groups. Schneider-Helmert and Schoenenberger (1981) reported longer sleep in six subjects after a single dose of 25 nmol/kg 1; Kaeser (1984) described an open-label, uncontrolled treatment in seven patients. Monti and colleagues (1987) carried out a double-blind cross-over study with polysomnography in chronic insomnia patients and found no significant differences from baseline or placebo; they concluded that the sleep improvement had little clinical meaning 4. A double-blind study in 16 chronic insomnia patients (1992) found weak effects that were partly attributed to chance changes in the placebo group, with no change in subjective sleep quality 5. In addition there are an uncontrolled pilot study in chronic pain (n=7) and an open study in alcohol and opiate withdrawal (67 enrolled, 49 evaluable) without a control group.

Animal and lab research

Animal studies, largely from the 1980s and from Russian laboratories, report stress protection and anticonvulsant and antioxidant effects. These have not been confirmed in modern, independent replications and contribute little to the question of whether the compound works in humans.

Caveats. Every positive DSIP study is small, uncontrolled or open-label; the two properly blinded sleep studies were negative 45. The withdrawal study had no control group, while withdrawal resolves on its own, and 18 of the 67 participants were not evaluable. Kaeser's open-label study reported an effect persisting for months after a series of injections - implausible for a peptide with a quarter-hour half-life. There is no replication by independent researchers and no adequately powered study.

What it is used for

  • Studied in chronic insomnia - without convincing results 45
  • Studied in chronic pain and migraine in an uncontrolled pilot study
  • Studied in alcohol and opiate withdrawal in an open study without a control group 2
  • Self-administered outside research as a sleep aid, which rests on no robust finding whatsoever

Dosing

Dose
Historical clinical dose: 25 nmol/kg intravenously, approximately 1.5-2 mg for an adult of 70-80 kg. In user protocols 100-300 mcg subcutaneously per day circulates.
Frequency
Once daily, in user protocols 30-60 minutes before bedtime
Route
intravenous in the studies; subcutaneous in user protocols
Duration
In the studies several days to weeks; user protocols mention courses of 4-8 weeks with breaks
  • The doses from user protocols are an order of magnitude lower than the 25 nmol/kg given intravenously in the clinical work 1, and by a different route of administration. There is no pharmacokinetic basis for that conversion.
  • These doses come from sales sites and forums, not from clinical research or regulatory documents.
  • There is no dose-response research and no established maximum tolerated dose.

These figures describe what the literature and published protocols report. They are not advice and not a dosing instruction.

Protocols

Sleep course (grey market)

user protocol — not validated

Source: user protocols and vendor material

This is not a validated schedule. It is a pattern that circulates among users and sellers, reproduced because it is what people actually follow — not because it has been tested. No trial established these doses, this interval or this duration, and nobody is checking what is in the vial. Treat every number below as an assertion, not a finding.

Nightly, 4-8 weeks100-300 mcg by subcutaneous injection, 30-60 minutes before bed
Thena break before any repeat course

The historical clinical work gave DSIP intravenously at about 25 nmol/kg, roughly 1.5-2 mg for an adult. This schedule is an order of magnitude lower by a different route, and no pharmacokinetic work connects the two. The 1987 study that measured sleep in chronic insomniacs was negative.

Schedules are reproduced as their source states them. Units, IU and milligrams explains why the figures are not interchangeable between products.

Reconstitution

Vial sizes
5 mg, 10 mg
Solvent
bacteriostatic water (0.9% benzyl alcohol)
Storage
Lyophilised powder at -20 °C, protected from light. Reconstituted 2-8 °C, usable for approximately 3-4 weeks according to suppliers; avoid repeated freezing and thawing.

Worked example

5 mg vial + 5 ml bacteriostatic water = 1 mg/ml. 100 mcg then corresponds to 0.1 ml, that is 10 units on a U100 insulin syringe.

Run the water down the wall of the vial, swirl gently, do not shake. These handling instructions come from suppliers and are not validated stability data.

Work it out for DSIP

Safety

Side effects

  • No serious side effects were reported in the old intravenous studies, but these involved a few dozen subjects over days to weeks
  • Injection site reactions
  • Headache and transient dizziness
  • Morning grogginess and vivid dreams (anecdotal)
  • Paradoxical arousal in the first hour after administration, described in the 1981 study 1

Do not use if

  • Pregnancy and breastfeeding - no data
  • Children and adolescents - no data
  • Hypersensitivity to the peptide or to benzyl alcohol in the diluent
  • Caution with concurrent use of central nervous system depressants

Interactions

Not systematically studied; there is no registered package insert. Theoretically caution is warranted with centrally depressant agents and opioids, given the presumed interaction with opioid systems that motivated the withdrawal study 2. No carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity or immunogenicity studies have been carried out.

Sources