Immune & Antimicrobial

Thymopentin

Thymopentin is five amino acids long — arginine, lysine, aspartate, valine, tyrosine — the short stretch of the thymus hormone thymopoietin that carries its activity, cut out and made synthetically to push immature immune cells towards becoming working T cells. It has a longer human record than most peptides here: Phase 3 trials in HIV from the era before combination antiretroviral therapy, plus studies in rheumatoid arthritis and chronic hepatitis B, and approval in some countries though never by the US Food and Drug Administration. Most of that evidence is observational rather than randomised. It is also demonstrably not inert — a published case report attributes an episode of myasthenia gravis, a serious neuromuscular disease, to it.

Last updated 12 August 2026

Studied forT-cell function research · Immunodeficiency context · Chronic hepatitis B research

Evidence on file2 human observational studies · 1 human case report or series · 2 animal studies · 5 citations not yet graded

Strongest sourceEffectiveness and safety of thymopentin for infection prophylaxis in peritoneal dialysis patients: a retrospe… (human observational study)

Mechanism

Binds HLA-DR on antigen-presenting cells and promotes thymocyte differentiation and mature T-cell function.

Reported effects

What sources associate with this compound. Reported categories, not outcomes we have graded — each would need its own citation and rung.

T-cell function research
Immunodeficiency context
Chronic hepatitis B research

Dosing on file unverified

SC: 50 mg 3x/week (HIV); IV: 50 mg 3x/week (RA); SC: 10 mg daily then 3x/week (PD)

Carried from a source that labels it unverified, and reproduced with that label attached. A record of what is reported, not a recommendation. No citation on this page establishes it.

Literature on file 10

animal in vivo
Thymopentin (1986) graded on: mouse tumour models with flow cytometry and antibody-based cell depletion — read from the abstract — “abstract review”
animal in vivo
Thymopentin enhances adenoviral oncolytic therapy by regulating macrophages and CD8+ T cells. graded on: an animal model — read from the indexed abstract — “mice”
human observational
Effectiveness and safety of thymopentin for infection prophylaxis in peritoneal dialysis patients: a retrospective study. graded on: an observational human design — “retrospective”
human case series
Thymopentin-Induced Myasthenia Gravis: A Case Report Highlighting Clinical Vigilance. graded on: a case report or series — “Case Report”
human observational
Efficacy and safety of thymosin combined with anticancer therapy for esophageal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. graded on: a synthesis of human studies — “systematic review”

Not graded

5 citations whose study design could not be read from the title. Left ungraded rather than guessed at.

not graded
NCT00002109: Double-Blind Study of Timunox (Thymopentin) in Asymptomatic HIV-Infected Patients Receiving Either Mono (AZT or ddI) or Combination (AZT/ddI or AZT/ddC) Anti-Retroviral Therapy graded on: NCT00002109 is completed and has posted no results - a registration, not a reported outcome — “NCT00002109”
not graded
NCT00460681: Phase III Study of Thymopentin in Patients After Curative Resection of Small graded on: NCT00460681 is unknown and has posted no results - a registration, not a reported outcome — “NCT00460681”
not graded
NCT00002332: Double-Blind Study of the Effect of Timunox (Thymopentin) on Lymphoproliferative Responses and Virus Load in HIV-Infected Subjects Receiving Nucleoside Analog Antiretroviral Therapy graded on: NCT00002332 is completed and has posted no results - a registration, not a reported outcome — “NCT00002332”
not graded
NCT06112041: The Prospective Clinical Study of Precision PRaG Therapy in Elderly Patients With Advanced Solid Malignant Tumors(PRaG9.0) graded on: NCT06112041 is not yet recruiting and has posted no results - a registration, not a reported outcome — “NCT06112041”
not graded
NCT00002049: Double Blind Study of Thymopentin Effects on HIV-1 Infectivity of Blood Mononuclear Cells and Semen in HIV Infected Patients graded on: NCT00002049 is completed and has posted no results - a registration, not a reported outcome — “NCT00002049”

Identity

Space-filling 3D model of Thymopentin, carbon grey, nitrogen blue, oxygen red — Built from the SMILES on this record — the atoms and bonds are exact. The shape is **one computed low-energy pose**, not a measured structure: a flexible peptide in solution has no single conformation, and where the SMILES leaves a stereocentre undefined the pose commits to one arbitrarily. The skeletal formula below claims connectivity and nothing more, which is what we actually know.

2D chemical structure of Thymopentin — Built from the SMILES on this record — the atoms and bonds are exact. The shape is **one computed low-energy pose**, not a measured structure: a flexible peptide in solution has no single conformation, and where the SMILES leaves a stereocentre undefined the pose commits to one arbitrarily. The skeletal formula below claims connectivity and nothing more, which is what we actually know.

Molecular weight: 679.8
Molecular formula: C30H49N9O9
CAS number: 69558-55-0
PubChem CID: 451417
InChI key: PSWFFKRAVBDQEG-YGQNSOCVSA-N
Sequence: RKDVY
SMILES: CC(C)[C@@H](C(=O)N[C@@H](CC1=CC=C(C=C1)O)C(=O)O)NC(=O)[C@H](CC(=O)O)NC(=O)[C@H](CCCCN)NC(=O)[C@H](CCCN=C(N)N)N
InChI: InChI=1S/C30H49N9O9/c1-16(2)24(28(46)38-22(29(47)48)14-17-8-10-18(40)11-9-17)39-27(45)21(15-23(41)42)37-26(44)20(7-3-4-12-31)36-25(43)19(32)6-5-13-35-30(33)34/h8-11,16,19-22,24,40H,3-7,12-15,31-32H2,1-2H3,(H,36,43)(H,37,44)(H,38,46)(H,39,45)(H,41,42)(H,47,48)(H4,33,34,35)/t19-,20-,21-,22-,24-/m0/s1

Notes unverified prose

Human trials: 50 mg SC 3x/week; 50 mg IV 3x/week; 10 mg SC daily; 1 mg/kg SC; Approved in some countries; 50 mg SC 3x/week

Not on file 1

All 8 tracked fields hold a value on this record. 1 further absence is named below. A blank field is a bug; a named absence is a finding.

half-lifenothing we hold supplies it

Each field links to every other record missing the same thing. The full ledger holds 765 gaps across 163 records.

At a glance

Strongest rung: human observational
Citations: 10
Regulatory: Human research reported (unverified)
Route: Subcutaneous / Intravenous
Declared gaps: 1

Citations by rung

Strongest wins, never an average.