{"id":"dsip","name":"DSIP (delta sleep-inducing peptide)","aliases":["delta sleep-inducing peptide","DSIP","Trp-Ala-Gly-Gly-Asp-Ala-Ser-Gly-Glu"],"url":"https://lyoresearch.com/compounds/dsip","class":{"id":"nootropic-peptides","name":"Nootropic and sleep peptides","url":"https://lyoresearch.com/classes/nootropic-peptides"},"summary":"DSIP is a nine-amino-acid peptide isolated from rabbit brain in the 1970s and named for the sleep pattern it appeared to induce. Unusually for a grey-market sleep peptide, it was tested in people: several small studies in chronic insomnia through the 1980s and 90s. The best-controlled of them found effects that were weak, possibly artefactual, and concluded it was unlikely to be of major therapeutic benefit. Development stopped.","overall_grade":"C","overall_grade_meaning":"weak human evidence","human_trials":"Several small trials, 1981–1998","regulatory_status":"Not approved","molecule":{"formula":"C35H48N10O15","molecular_weight":"848.8","cas":"62568-57-4","pubchem_cid":68816,"note":null},"pharmacokinetics":{"basis":"none","route":"Intravenous in the 1980s sleep studies, which report no PK","half_life":"No human pharmacokinetic data","licensed_regimen":null,"product":null,"source":null},"outcomes":[{"outcome":"Sleep in chronic insomnia","grade":"C","grade_meaning":"weak human evidence","effect_size":"not measurable","adverse":false,"human_studies":"1 double-blind RCT (n=16) + small studies","evidence":"Intravenous DSIP improved measured sleep efficiency and latency against placebo, but the authors judged the effects weak and partly attributable to a change in the placebo group, with no improvement in how patients rated their own sleep.","references":[{"citation":"Bes F, et al. Effects of delta sleep-inducing peptide on sleep of chronic insomniac patients: a double-blind study.","where":"Neuropsychobiology, 1992;26:193–197","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1299794/"}],"verbatim":{"text":"Data analysis suggested, however, that the statistically significant effects were weak and in part could be due to an incidental change in the placebo group. As none of the other measures, including subjective sleep quality, showed any change, it was concluded that short-term treatment of chronic insomnia with DSIP is not likely to be of major therapeutic benefit.","citation":"Bes F, et al. Effects of delta sleep-inducing peptide on sleep of chronic insomniac patients: a double-blind study.","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1299794/"}},{"outcome":"Opioid withdrawal","grade":"D","grade_meaning":"no human evidence","effect_size":"not measurable","adverse":false,"human_studies":"1 open trial","evidence":"An open-label study in opioid detoxification was published in 1998. Without a control group it cannot separate the peptide from the natural course of withdrawal, and it was not followed up.","references":[{"citation":"Backmund M, et al. Opioid detoxification with delta sleep-inducing peptide: results of an open clinical trial.","where":"J Clin Psychopharmacol, 1998","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9617990/"}]},{"outcome":"Recovery, stress or performance","grade":"D","grade_meaning":"no human evidence","effect_size":"not measurable","adverse":false,"human_studies":"None","evidence":"The recovery and anti-stress claims made for DSIP today have no controlled human trial behind them.","references":[]},{"outcome":"Safety in humans","grade":"D","grade_meaning":"no human evidence","effect_size":"not measurable","adverse":true,"human_studies":"No systematic data","evidence":"The old studies were small and short, and none was designed to characterise safety. There is no modern safety dataset at the doses and routes used on the grey market.","references":[]}],"regions":[{"region":"European Union","status":"Unauthorised medicinal product","note":"No marketing authorisation in any member state; supplying it for human use is an offence under national medicines law."},{"region":"United States","status":"Not approved","note":"Not an approved drug and not a dietary-supplement ingredient; sold as a research chemical."},{"region":"United Kingdom","status":"Unlicensed medicine","note":"No MHRA licence; supply for human use is an offence."},{"region":"Australia","status":"Prescription-only / unapproved","note":"Not on the ARTG; imports are seized."},{"region":"Canada","status":"Not authorised","note":"No Drug Identification Number."},{"region":"Sport (WADA)","status":"Prohibited at all times","note":"As a non-approved substance it falls under the non-approved-substances class and is prohibited in and out of competition."}],"faq":[{"q":"Does DSIP help you sleep?","a":"The best-controlled trial found weak effects on measured sleep, no change in how patients rated their own sleep, and concluded it was unlikely to be of major therapeutic benefit. That is a genuine negative result rather than an absence of evidence."},{"q":"Why is it still sold if the trials were negative?","a":"The trials are forty years old, small, and largely forgotten outside the literature. The name — 'delta sleep-inducing peptide' — does a great deal of marketing work on its own."},{"q":"Is DSIP safe?","a":"Unknown. The old studies were too small and too short to characterise safety, and there is no modern data at the doses sold today."}],"references":[{"cite":"Bes F, et al. Effects of delta sleep-inducing peptide on sleep of chronic insomniac patients: a double-blind study.","where":"Neuropsychobiology, 1992;26:193–197","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1299794/","note":"16 patients; the best-controlled trial."},{"cite":"Backmund M, et al. Opioid detoxification with delta sleep-inducing peptide: results of an open clinical trial.","where":"J Clin Psychopharmacol, 1998","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9617990/","note":"Open-label, no control group."},{"cite":"Schneider-Helmert D, et al. Acute and delayed effects of DSIP on human sleep behavior.","where":"Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther Toxicol, 1981","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6895513/"}],"last_reviewed":"2026-09-03","literature_searched_to":"2026-09-03","changelog":[{"date":"2026-09-03","note":"Initial publication. Sleep graded C on small trials with a negative conclusion; other claims graded D."}],"license":"CC BY 4.0 — cite as “LYO Research” with a link.","methodology":"https://lyoresearch.com/methodology"}