Cartalax: Reference Overview and Reconstitution Notes

Cartalax is a man-made short-chain peptide (a tiny protein-like molecule) from the Khavinson bioregulator family. It is grouped with cartilage and connective-tissue peptides. It is a research-only compound and is not FDA-approved.

Cartalax

What it is

Cartalax is a man-made ultrashort peptide (a molecule built from just three amino acids, which are the small building blocks that make up all proteins). Its three building blocks appear in this order: Ala-Glu-Asp (AED). It belongs to a family of bioregulators (tiny molecules that help control how cells work) developed by Vladimir Khavinson's group at the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology.

Research context and categorization

Classification & Origin

Cartalax is grouped under the Khavinson bioregulator category. More specifically, it falls among the cartilage and connective-tissue peptides. Its building-block sequence matches segments found in collagen chains (the main structural protein in cartilage). That connection is why it is linked to cartilage research.

Chondrocyte Research

In research settings, Cartalax is most often discussed in relation to chondrocytes (the cells that build and maintain cartilage). Think of chondrocytes like a maintenance crew living inside cartilage, constantly repairing and rebuilding it. Scientists have studied Cartalax in laboratory and animal settings in connection with genes involved in cartilage health, and with proteins such as type II collagen and aggrecan, which give cartilage its structure and springiness.

It is also discussed in the broader conversation about aging and tissue repair that surrounds the Khavinson peptide series.

Key point: Cartalax is an experimental compound studied mainly in laboratory and animal models. Its effects have not been confirmed, established, or approved in humans.

Status

• Regulatory status: Research-only, not FDA-approved. Most countries treat it as an experimental research compound. It is not approved for medical use.
• Sport status: It is not listed by name on the WADA Prohibited List (the global anti-doping banned substance list). However, anti-doping rules include broad catch-all provisions that can cover any unapproved research compound, so this peptide could still fall within wider screening.

Reconstitution notes (general)

Lyophilized (freeze-dried) peptides are prepared by adding bacteriostatic water (sterile water with a small amount of preservative that keeps it safe for repeated use from the same vial) to the dry powder. The working concentration is simply the milligrams of peptide in the vial divided by the millilitres of water added.

Using less water gives a higher concentration. Using more water gives a lower concentration. A peptide calculator is available to help you work out the right volume for your target concentration.

Dilution and handling notes (compound-specific)

Cartalax usually comes as a lyophilized (freeze-dried) powder in vials of around 10 mg to 20 mg. It is sometimes available in capsule form as well. If you are working with a capsule or any other non-powder form, no mixing is needed and these steps do not apply.

For the powder form, bacteriostatic water is the standard liquid used to dissolve it. For a 20 mg vial, common approaches use around 2 mL of water for a more concentrated mix (near 10 mg/mL), or a larger volume such as 4 mL for a more dilute, easier-to-measure solution (near 5 mg/mL).

The choice of water volume is mainly about how easy the solution will be to measure accurately, not about hitting a solubility limit. There is no published reconstitution or stability study specific to Cartalax, so these ranges come from general practice with short peptides, not from validated data for this compound.

Cartalax is a small, water-loving tripeptide (a molecule made of exactly three amino acid building blocks). Because it loves water, it dissolves easily and usually produces a clear, colorless liquid. It does not gel or turn persistently cloudy the way some larger or fat-loving peptides can. To dissolve it, follow these steps:

1. Add the water slowly down the inside wall of the vial. Do not squirt it straight onto the powder.
2. Swirl the vial gently instead of shaking it hard. Hard shaking can cause the solution to foam.
3. Give the vial a minute or two for the powder to fully dissolve.
4. Discard the solution if it stays cloudy or shows visible particles.

Handling and storage

To keep the compound in good condition, follow these handling and storage steps:

• Store the reconstituted solution in a refrigerator at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, away from direct light.
• Wipe the rubber stopper with an alcohol swab before each access. Label the vial with the date it was mixed so you always know how old the solution is.
• A refrigerated window of roughly four weeks is a common general reference for reconstituted peptides.
• Discard the vial if the contents turn cloudy or discolored, or if particles or floating matter appear.
• Keep any unopened lyophilized powder cold as directed and avoid repeated freeze-thaw cycles (freezing, thawing, and re-freezing the same vial multiple times).

Related reading

• Cerebrolysin
• Chonluten
• CJC-1295
• How Reconstitution Works
• How Long Does a Reconstituted Vial Last?

Tools and supplies

• peptide calculator
• Bacteriostatic Water 30 ml
• Gansulin Metal Reusable Pen
• 3 ml Glass Cartridges (10-pack)
• Complete Starter Kit

Reminder: research and educational reference only. Preppin Peppers sells hardware and materials, not peptides. Not medical, dosing, or health advice, not evaluated by the FDA, and not intended for human or animal use.

Frequently asked questions

What is Cartalax and what is its amino acid sequence?

Cartalax is a synthetic tripeptide with the sequence Ala-Glu-Asp (AED), belonging to the Khavinson bioregulator series and classified as a cartilage and connective-tissue research peptide. It is research-only and not FDA-approved.

How do you reconstitute a lyophilized Cartalax vial?

Add bacteriostatic water to the powder. For a 20 mg vial, 2 mL yields ~10 mg/mL; 4 mL yields a more dilute solution. Divide vial mass (mg) by water volume (mL) added to find concentration. Use a peptide calculator to confirm volumes.

Is Cartalax on the WADA Prohibited List or approved for human use?

Cartalax is not FDA-approved and is for laboratory research only. It is not named on the WADA Prohibited List, but broad anti-doping catch-all provisions may still apply to unapproved experimental compounds.

What the research community gets wrong about Cartalax

Cartalax (the tripeptide Ala-Glu-Asp, or AED) shows up in a lot of shorthand, and a few of those shortcuts cause avoidable mistakes at the bench. Here is what gets mixed up most often.

• It gets confused with Epitalon. Cartalax is AED, a three amino acid peptide. Epitalon is AEDG, a four amino acid peptide. They are different sequences with different database entries, so labeling, ordering, and record keeping should treat them as separate compounds.
• People read the word "cartilage" as a body claim. In the published literature Cartalax is described as a short-peptide bioregulator studied in laboratory and animal models. The cartilage link comes from its sequence overlapping collagen segments, not from confirmed outcomes in people.
• Some assume there is a validated recipe for it. There is no reconstitution or stability study specific to Cartalax. Any water volumes or shelf-life windows you see come from general short-peptide practice, so treat them as starting points to record, not as settled numbers.
• "Not named on the WADA list" gets read as "cleared." Anti-doping rules carry broad catch-all language that can still cover an unapproved research compound. Absence of the name is not a clearance.
• More concentrated is treated as better. Cartalax is a small, water-loving tripeptide that usually dissolves easily into a clear liquid. Choosing 2 mL versus 4 mL for a vial is about how easily you can measure the solution accurately at the bench, not about a solubility limit.

From our bench: If you reconstitute a Cartalax vial, we would like your firsthand notes. Working from the same lot and vial size, add your chosen volume of bacteriostatic water down the inner wall, swirl gently, and record how long the powder takes to go fully clear and whether the solution stays colorless with no floating particles. Tell us the vial mass, the water volume you used, your storage temperature, and what you saw. We publish real reader observations and will never fill in numbers we did not measure.

Sources

1. Bacteriostatic Water for Injection, USP , FDA/DailyMed label (0.9% benzyl alcohol)
2. Duerkop et al., Biotechnol J 2018 , Impact of Cavitation, High Shear Stress and Air/Liquid Interfaces on Protein Aggregation
3. Sigma-Aldrich (Merck) , Handling and Storage Guidelines for Peptides and Proteins
4. PubChem CID 87815447: Alanyl-glutamyl-aspartic acid (Ala-Glu-Asp / AED, the Cartalax tripeptide), molecular formula C12H19N3O8 , NIH National Library of Medicine
5. Khavinson V. et al., "Peptide Regulation of Gene Expression: A Systematic Review," Molecules 2021;26(22):7053 , lists AED (Cartalax) and describes short peptides interacting with histones and DNA to regulate gene expression (PMC8619776)