Cortistatin
Somatostatin Analog Neuropeptide
Evidence grade 1 of 5, Untested. Read how the Atlas grades evidence.
Cortistatin is an endogenous somatostatin-related neuropeptide with a well documented preclinical profile, including slow-wave-sleep enhancement (de Lecea 1996) and anti-inflammatory or immunomodulatory action across rodent models of sepsis, inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, ischemic stroke, and atherosclerosis (Gonzalez-Rey and Delgado). All of this evidence is animal or in-vitro; there are no human clinical trials of cortistatin the peptide, so the honest grade is 1 (animal-only), corrected down from the current 2.
- FDA
- No FDA approval; investigational neuropeptide studied only in preclinical animal and in-vitro models, sold where available as a research chemical not for human use
- WADA
- Not prohibited
Reference only. Not medical advice.
What can go wrong
Unapproved research-stage neuropeptide with no human safety or efficacy data; broad neuroendocrine and immunosuppressive actions raise theoretical infection and endocrine risks if used in humans.
Talk to a clinician before taking this. The Atlas can tell you what has been studied about Cortistatin. It cannot tell you how it would interact with your body, your history, or anything else you are taking, and nothing on this page is a reason to start.
A neuropeptide closely related to somatostatin, with anti-inflammatory, immunosuppressive, and neuroprotective properties. Potential for autoimmune, sepsis, and neuroinflammation work.
What people take it for
These are the reasons people give for taking it. They are not effects it has been shown to have.
How it is supposed to work
Cortistatin is a natural neuropeptide closely related to somatostatin, found in the brain and immune cells. It influences cortical activity and sleep, dampens inflammation, and shares several receptors with somatostatin while having some distinct effects. It is an endogenous signaling molecule under research interest, not a marketed product.
Cortistatin is a small cyclic neuropeptide so similar to somatostatin that it shares eleven of its fourteen amino acids, yet it is made by a separate gene. It binds all five somatostatin receptors and probably one of its own that has not been fully pinned down. It exists in several forms, is expressed in the cortex, hippocampus and amygdala, and is essentially a research neuropeptide rather than a product.
- Type
- Somatostatin-family neuropeptide
- Made in
- Cortex
- Effect
- Deep sleep, anti-inflammatory
- Receptors
- Somatostatin, plus its own
- Human use
- None
- Approved
- No
A Sleep Peptide With Real Biology, And No Human Use
Cortistatin is the instructive opposite of the more heavily marketed sleep peptides: it has genuine biology and almost no commercial life. It is a near-twin of somatostatin, sharing most of its structure and all of its receptors and many of its calming effects, but it has its own distinct job. Infused into the brain it promotes deep slow-wave sleep, it dampens the cortex’s wake-promoting acetylcholine signaling, its production rises after sleep deprivation and cycles with the day, and the gene that makes it has even been lost in some animals with unusual sleep patterns. That is the profile of a real endogenous sleep factor, and on top of it cortistatin is a legitimate anti-inflammatory signal made by and acting on immune cells. The honest point is the mirror image of a peptide like DSIP: where that compound has an evocative name and no mechanism, cortistatin has a well-characterized mechanism and essentially no human use. It is studied extensively in the lab, but it is not an approved drug, has no real human trials, and exists only at the edges of the gray market. Real biology is not the same as an available therapy.
Safety in detail
- As an endogenous peptide studied mainly in the lab, its safety as an administered drug in humans is not established.
- No approved product exists, so any consumer material would be gray-market and unverified.
- Its overlap with somatostatin signaling means broad physiological effects are plausible and would need careful study.
- Not FDA-approved for any use.
Children and teenagers
Cortistatin is a research neuropeptide with no human trials, so it is not a pediatric therapeutic. Pediatric sleep problems belong with pediatricians. There is no appropriate pediatric use, and it remains research-only.
What people get wrong
Nothing recorded here yet. There is almost certainly something people get wrong about this one, and the blank space means we have not written it down, not that the record is clean.
Who profits, and who pushes back
Nobody is named here yet, because we have not done that work on this entry. Read that as unfinished. Somebody almost certainly sells this, and somebody almost certainly disputes it. Assume both until we have checked.
Cortistatin has essentially no commercial life: it is a research neuropeptide sold mainly as a laboratory reagent, with only a faint, emerging gray-market presence for sleep and inflammation. There is no approved product and no significant market. Notably, it is far less commercialized than peptides with weaker science behind them.
How we got here
Cortistatin was identified in 1996 by Luis de Lecea and colleagues as a cortical neuropeptide whose brain infusion enhanced slow-wave sleep, and it was named for that cortex-statin (somatostatin-like) origin. The single CORT gene encodes preprocortistatin, which is processed into CST-14 (rat), CST-17 (human), and CST-29, sharing the FWKT core motif with somatostatin and binding the same receptors plus the ghrelin receptor GHSR1a and MrgX2. From the mid-2000s the group of Elena Gonzalez-Rey and Mario Delgado in Granada developed cortistatin as an endogenous anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory agent across rodent models, later engineering a latent delivery form, though it has never advanced to an approved drug or a human trial. It remains an unapproved research-stage neuropeptide and shares its name, confusingly, with the chemically unrelated marine steroidal alkaloid cortistatin A.
Cortistatin was discovered and cloned in the 1990s and named for its cortical expression and ability to depress cortical activity. It was characterized as a somatostatin-family neuropeptide with distinct roles in sleep and inflammation, likely acting partly through its own receptor. Despite extensive basic-science study, it has remained research-stage, never developed for human use, with only a faint gray-market emergence.
- 1990sCortistatin is cloned and named for depressing cortical activity.
- 1990s-2000sIt is characterized as a distinct somatostatin-family sleep factor.
- 2000sIts anti-inflammatory role and likely own receptor emerge.
- ongoingIt remains a research neuropeptide with no human development.
- recentA faint gray-market presence appears for sleep and inflammation.
The numbers behind the grade
- Type
- Endogenous neuropeptide
- Related to
- Somatostatin
- Roles
- Sleep, immune, neural
- FDA
- Not approved
- Stage
- Preclinical
- Use
- Research
The people taking it
A scientifically interesting endogenous neuropeptide better known in research than in the consumer peptide market.
Cortistatin’s primary audience is researchers studying sleep, cortical activity, neuroprotection and immunology, with only a small, emerging group of sleep and anti-inflammatory experimenters. Its footprint is far smaller than that of the better-marketed sleep peptides.
Studied in research for sleep, neuroprotection and inflammation; it has no approved or established consumer use.
Set against the alternatives
Against somatostatin, its near-twin, cortistatin shares structure, receptors and many effects but uniquely promotes sleep, reduces movement and calms inflammation, and likely has a receptor of its own. Against DSIP it is the telling inversion: cortistatin has a real, well-characterized sleep mechanism with circadian and sleep-deprivation regulation, while DSIP has an evocative name and no mechanism, yet DSIP is the more commercialized of the two. And against approved sleep medicine, cortistatin is not a drug at all but research biology. Its strength is genuine science; its limit is that none of it has been turned into a therapy.
What we do not know
- Whether cortistatin’s anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects can be translated into a therapy.
- How its distinct actions differ usefully from somatostatin.
- Whether its role in sleep regulation has clinical potential.
What could change
Undeveloped potentialIts sleep and anti-inflammatory roles remain therapeutically unexplored.Receptor huntThe search for its own receptor continues.Comparative biologyIts gene loss in atypical-sleep animals informs sleep science.Faint gray-marketA small consumer interest is beginning to appear.
Legal status
There is no approved cortistatin therapeutic. It exists as a research compound studied for its roles in sleep, neuroprotection and inflammation. Any material sold to consumers would be research-use-only and unregulated.
Status current as of July 2026. Regulatory positions change, sometimes quickly.
The market for this
What follows describes how this is bought and sold. It is not a buying guide and it is not an endorsement of any seller.
Cortistatin is not really a consumer compound; it is a research neuropeptide sold mainly as a reagent, with only a faint gray-market presence. Despite its genuine sleep and anti-inflammatory biology, there are no human trials and no approval, so any human use is unstudied. For sleep, evidence-based approaches are the right path, and the fact that even this real-mechanism peptide has not been developed for humans is itself telling. It is a fascinating research subject, not a therapy to seek out.
Cortistatin is priced as a research reagent, with a minimal gray-market presence, and is not a consumer product.
Not produced as a drug; any consumer-facing material is research-use-only, typically synthesized overseas, with no quality assurance.
Research reagentsThe main legitimate source is laboratory-reagent suppliers.Faint gray-marketA few vendors list it for sleep and inflammation.UncommercializedIt is barely commercialized compared with other sleep peptides.
What this entry does not yet cover
What follows is unfinished work on our side, not a finding about Cortistatin.
Nothing outstanding on this one.
Sources
Cortistatin is a neuropeptide structurally related to somatostatin; isoforms include CST-14, CST-17, CST-29 derived from preprocortistatin; enhances slow-wave sleep and binds somatostatin receptors plus GHSR1a and MrgX2; all cited functional evidence is preclinical with no FDA approval or human trial noted
Cortistatin is an anti-inflammatory peptide with therapeutic action in a mouse model of inflammatory bowel disease, ameliorating colitis severity and improving survival
Review: cortistatin as a multistep therapeutic candidate in preclinical models of sepsis, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease, acting via macrophage downregulation and regulatory T-cell induction; author-stated as promising candidate, not proven therapy
Cortistatin, a modulatory peptide of sleep and memory, induces analgesia in rats
Cortistatin-14 exerts neuroprotective effect against microglial activation, blood-brain barrier disruption, and cognitive impairment in a mouse model of sepsis-associated encephalopathy
The neuropeptide cortistatin alleviates neuropathic pain in experimental (rodent) models of peripheral nerve injury
Cortistatin reduces atherosclerosis in hyperlipidemic ApoE-deficient mice and reduces foam-cell formation, supporting a cardiovascular-protective preclinical role
A latent (engineered) form of cortistatin shows therapeutic effect in experimental inflammatory and fibrotic disorders, indicating continued preclinical development of the peptide
Distinct compound: 'Cortistatins A, B, C, and D' are anti-angiogenic steroidal alkaloids from the marine sponge Corticium simplex, chemically unrelated to the somatostatin-family neuropeptide of the same name
The studies that matter
Neuroscience and immunology research2000s-2020s
Studies in animals and cells show roles in slow-wave sleep regulation, neuroprotection and anti-inflammatory and immune modulation, making it a research target in inflammation and neurological disease.
Human therapeutic trialsnone established
There is no approved cortistatin drug and no established clinical use; the work is preclinical and mechanistic.