Neuro & cognitive
DSIP / Emideltide
A neuropeptide named for a sleep effect first described in the 1970s that decades of follow-up have never clearly replicated in humans.
Also known as: Delta sleep-inducing peptide, emideltide
Evidence passport
Last reviewed 2026-08-23
- Evidence level
- L1Mechanistic
- Confidence
- Very low confidence
- Human efficacy
- 8/100
- Human safety
- 8/100
- Regulatory status
- Experimental / research
- Development
- Unclear
- Routes
- Evidence base
- Mostly preclinical
- Furthest stage
- Not established
- Source curation
- Sources fully curated
- Clinical maturity
- Historical small studies with inconsistent results
Most of this evidence comes from animals and cells
Overview
Clinical maturity: Historical small studies with inconsistent results
Routes & formulations
The curated record does not establish a studied route with consistent findings. Research-market products are unapproved, and route availability is not evidence of effect.
Route availability is not evidence of efficacy, and evidence from one route does not transfer to another. The Registry never provides dosing or sourcing information.
Peptide lifecycle
Discovery
Preclinical
Phase I
Phase II
Phase III
Approved
No established development programme in the curated record; historical research only.
What it is
A nine-amino-acid peptide named in the 1970s after reports that it induced delta-wave sleep in animals. Its name describes a finding that later work struggled to reproduce.
What people claim
- Induces deep sleep
- Helps insomnia, opioid withdrawal and narcolepsy
What the evidence actually says
The gap between the name and the evidence is the story here. Human studies have been small, old and inconsistent, and sleep efficacy in humans has never been convincingly demonstrated. A name is not a result.
Human evidence
- Small historical human studies with inconsistent findings; no adequately powered controlled trials establish sleep benefit.
Preclinical evidence
- Animal electrophysiology and behavioural studies from multiple decades, with mixed replication.
Animal and cell findings are Level 1–2 evidence.
Mechanism and pathways
- Proposed modulation of sleep-regulating circuits; mechanism remains unestablished.
Safety and unknowns
- The FDA's 503A Category 2 listing identifies significant safety risks for compounding; the July 2026 PCAC review covers its nominations.
- No systematic human safety dataset exists.
Cancer relevance
No established human signal
Regulatory status
Not an approved medicine in any major region. It appears on the FDA 503A Category 2 list of bulk substances presenting significant safety risks for compounding and was scheduled for Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee review in July 2026 across insomnia, opioid-withdrawal and narcolepsy-related nominations.
Evidence grade
Cell, receptor or computational work explaining how something could work.
What would change our rating?
- Adequately powered, pre-registered controlled trials with objective sleep endpoints.
References and sources
- Regulatory / labelFDA — Bulk drug substances used in compounding (Category 2 list)
- Regulatory / labelFDA — July 23-24, 2026 meeting of the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee
Source hierarchy: regulatory documents and trial registries first, peer-reviewed work next, sponsor material flagged as non-independent. We never use supplier or clinic marketing as evidence, and where a verified source has not yet been curated we say so rather than inventing one.
Evidence change history
No recorded changes yet. Baseline position set on 2026-08-23.