A practical reference on thymalfasin: what it is, how it behaves, what the literature reports, and where the honest uncertainties sit.
Reviewed 2026-06-14. Anything still debated is marked as such rather than presented as settled.
Clinical research has examined the peptide in chronic hepatitis B and C, as a vaccine adjuvant, and in sepsis and oncology settings. Findings across trials are mixed; some report changes in selected immune markers, while others find no clear clinical benefit. Many studies are small and define outcomes differently, which limits comparison. Regulatory approval is confined to a few countries, and the compound is not an approved drug in the United States or most of Europe.
Overall evidence quality varies considerably. A large share of published reports come from single centers, rely on surrogate immunological markers, or lack adequate control groups. Systematic reviews have highlighted this heterogeneity as a barrier to pooling results. Open questions include which patients, if any, might benefit, what treatment duration is appropriate, and whether any effect is independent of standard care. The peptide is often described as an immune modulator rather than a therapy for one disease, which complicates confirmatory trial design.
Thymosin alpha 1 was identified in 1977 as a component of thymosin fraction 5, a heterogeneous preparation used in early studies of thymic function. Investigators purified the active material and determined its amino acid sequence, which enabled chemical synthesis. Work in the following decades concentrated on T-cell maturation and immune reconstitution in animals and small human cohorts. Early preparations varied in composition, so results from that period are difficult to compare with studies using defined synthetic peptide.
Several factors accelerate degradation: alkaline pH, elevated temperature, exposure to oxidants, and the presence of residual moisture. Deamidation of asparagine residues and oxidation of methionine are the most commonly reported degradation routes. Because the peptide lacks disulfide bonds, it does not undergo the thiol-related aggregation seen in some other biologics, but physical aggregation can still occur at high concentration. Stability data are product-specific, and extrapolating shelf life between formulations is not reliable.
Lyophilized thymosin alpha-1 is generally stored at or below minus twenty degrees Celsius, protected from moisture and light. Short-term handling at ambient temperature is possible for dry powder, but reconstituted solutions degrade faster and are usually kept at two to eight degrees Celsius with a defined expiry of days rather than weeks. Repeated freeze-thaw cycles should be avoided because they promote aggregation and loss of potency. Exact limits depend on the formulation and should follow the supplier's documentation.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First described | 1977 | Reported as a component of thymosin fraction 5 |
| Sequence length | 28 amino acids | N-terminal residue is acetylated |
| Net charge at neutral pH | Negative | Reflects a high proportion of acidic residues |
| Principal studied uses | Chronic hepatitis B and vaccine adjuvant | Research uses outnumber approved indications |
| Regulatory status | Approved in a limited number of countries | Not approved in the United States or most of Europe |
20世纪70年代，研究者从胸腺提取物中纯化出多种小肽，Tα1是其中被较早表征的一种。最初的制备依赖组织匀浆和层析步骤，产量低且成分复杂。随着固相肽合成技术成熟，实验室和工业界能够生产与天然序列一致的合成版本。合成肽的纯度可达95%以上，并可通过反相高效液相色谱和质谱进行鉴定。这一转变使研究不再依赖动物胸腺来源。
市售的胸腺素α1通常以冻干粉形式提供，溶解后用于注射。其氨基酸组成包括多个酸性残基，因此在中性pH下带负电荷。该肽可溶于水和生理盐水，但在有机溶剂中溶解度有限。储存条件通常为冻干状态下负20摄氏度，溶解后需冷藏并避免反复冻融。常见的同义词包括胸腺肽α1、thymalfasin和Tα1。
Like most short peptides, thymosin alpha-1 is susceptible to hydrolysis under strongly acidic or basic conditions and to oxidation when exposed to air over long periods. The acetylated amino terminus blocks one common degradation route, which contributes to the molecule's relative robustness in solution. Lyophilized material generally retains potency for extended periods when kept cold and dry. Once reconstituted, aqueous solutions are less stable and are typically used within a defined window rather than held indefinitely at ambient temperature.
Routine handling calls for storage of the lyophilized powder at refrigerated temperatures, away from light, in a sealed container. Working solutions are often prepared in sterile water or buffer and kept cold between uses. Repeated freeze-thaw cycles are generally avoided because they can promote aggregation and loss of material. Laboratories usually record lot number, reconstitution date, and storage conditions so that any change in behavior can be traced to a specific preparation.
Whether the free 28-residue peptide circulates in human tissue remains debated. The best-documented human source is prothymosin alpha, a larger acidic protein that carries the sequence at its N-terminus. Reports of measurable peptide levels in serum and lymphoid tissue exist, yet some of that signal may come from cross-reacting fragments or from the parent protein. Most reviews therefore treat prothymosin alpha as the established human molecule and describe independent circulation of the small peptide as an unresolved question.
Immunological studies connect the peptide to multiple parts of the immune response. It has been reported to engage Toll-like receptor signaling, to promote dendritic cell maturation, and to influence the balance of T helper cell subsets. Changes in natural killer cell activity and in cytokine release appear in cell culture and animal models. These observations describe broad immunomodulatory behavior rather than a single defined receptor target, and the primary molecular interaction has not been settled.
Thymosin alpha-1 is a synthetic 28-amino-acid peptide whose sequence was first identified in extracts of bovine thymus tissue during the 1970s. The chain carries an acetyl group on its N-terminal serine. Its acidic residue content is high, which produces strong water solubility and an isoelectric point well below neutrality. Material supplied for laboratory and clinical use is manufactured by solid-phase peptide synthesis rather than purified from animal tissue. Different salt forms, such as the acetate, alter the counter-ion content without changing the peptide backbone.
Thymosin alpha 1 is a 28-amino-acid peptide first isolated from thymosin fraction 5, a bovine thymic extract. Its sequence begins with an acetylated serine residue and carries a high proportion of acidic residues, so the molecule has a net negative charge near neutral pH. Despite the shared name, it is unrelated in sequence to the thymosin beta family. Synthetic material prepared by solid-phase peptide synthesis is identical in sequence to the natural peptide.
Several names appear in the literature for this peptide, including thymalfasin and the abbreviation T-alpha-1. Naming conventions differ among research articles, regulatory documents, and supplier catalogs, which complicates literature searches. Both synthetic and recombinant production routes yield a peptide with the same 28-residue sequence as the thymic isolate. Because the thymosin label also covers unrelated peptides, sources should be compared by sequence rather than by name alone.
The peptide occurs naturally in thymic tissue and has been detected in serum and other biological fluids. Reported concentrations are low, and reliable measurement generally requires immunoassay or mass spectrometry with an enrichment step. It is released from a larger precursor, prothymosin alpha, by proteolytic cleavage, although the enzymes involved are not fully characterized. Whether circulating levels reflect thymic output specifically remains an open question.
89Sr is the active ingredient in Metastron, a radiopharmaceutical used for bone pain secondary to metastatic bone cancer. The strontium is processed like calcium by the body, preferentially incorporating it into bone at sites of increased osteogenesis. This localization focuses the radiation exposure on the cancerous lesion. 90Sr has been used as a power source for radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs). 90Sr produces approximately 0.93 watts of heat per gram (it is lower for the form of 90Sr used in RTGs, which is strontium fluoride). However, 90Sr has one third the lifetime and a lower density than 238Pu, another RTG fuel. The main advantage of 90Sr is that it is significantly cheaper than 238Pu and is found in nuclear waste. The latter must be prepared by irradiating 237Np with neutrons then separating the modest amounts of 238Pu. The principal disadvantage of 90Sr is the high energy beta particles produce Bremsstrahlung as they encounter nuclei of other nearby heavy atoms such as adjacent strontium. This is mostly in the range of X-rays. Thus strong beta emitters also emit significant secondary X-rays in most cases. This requires significant shielding measures which complicates the design of RTGs using 90Sr. The Soviet Union deployed nearly 1000 of these RTGs on its northern coast as a power source for lighthouses and meteorology stations.
Subsequent research suggests that multiple waves of immune cells develop through hematopoiesis from hemogenic endothelial cells (ECs), independent of HSCs, with HSCs arising in a later hematopoietic wave. Tissue-resident immune cells may be either fetal-derived or the progeny of adult HSCs. In vertebrates, the earliest source of mast cells is the extraembryonic yolk sac, where blood and immune cells first develop. However, there are differences in the embryonic development of vertebrates such as mice compared to primates (including humans). In primates, yolk sac formation involves a transient primary yolk sac, and the formation of extraembryonic mesoderm, prior to generation of a secondary yolk sac where the first blood cells of the embryo develop. During embryonic development, mast cell progenitors (MCps) form in a series of developmentally discrete waves. The first wave of mast cells in the embryo is derived from erythro-myeloid progenitors (EMPs) in the yolk sac, before hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) emerge. In mouse models, the earliest mast cell progenitors originate in the embryo around embryonic day 7 (E7.5-E8.5). Transient erythro-myeloid progenitors (EMPs) develop in the yolk sac between E8.5-E10.5 and in fetal liver (FL) between E11.5-E13.5. Embryonic multipotent progenitors (eMPPs) and hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) emerge around E10.5. Mast cell differentiation in the fetal liver (FL) starts from E11, along with a peak in the number of mast cell progenitors.
=== Specific groups === Children and the elderly – The safety and effectiveness of lorazepam are not well determined in children under 18 years of age, but it is used to treat acute seizures. Dose requirements have to be individualized, especially in people who are elderly and debilitated in whom the risk of oversedation is greater. Long-term therapy may lead to cognitive deficits, especially in the elderly, which may only be partially reversible. The elderly metabolize benzodiazepines more slowly than younger people and are more sensitive to the adverse effects of benzodiazepines compared to younger individuals even at similar plasma levels. Additionally, the elderly tend to take more drugs which may interact with or enhance the effects of benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepines, including lorazepam, have been found to increase the risk of falls and fractures in the elderly. As a result, dosage recommendations for the elderly are about half of those used in younger individuals and used for no longer than two weeks. Lorazepam may also be slower to clear in the elderly, leading potentially to accumulation and enhanced effects. Lorazepam, similar to other benzodiazepines and nonbenzodiazepines, causes impairments in body balance and standing steadiness in individuals who wake up at night or the next morning. Falls and hip fractures are frequently reported. The combination with alcohol increases these impairments. Partial, but incomplete, tolerance develops to these impairments.
On July 11, 2021, the 2021 Cuban protests began with thousands of Cubans marching in the street as the single largest anti-government protest in Cuba since 1994. On July 14, Grand Master Zamora Fernández and Grand Secretary Carlos A. Pírez Benítez also addressed a letter to the whole of the Cuban people, the government, and all Cuban Freemasons. In this letter, they wrote that dialogue and tolerance were the most important ways to resolve any difference between parties that disagreed with each other. They desired human rights to be universally applied as codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They said that the events of the protests were foreseeable and entirely preventable; that it was not unordinary for a government to try and contain a protest, but that the Grand Lodge were disheartened by what they viewed as an excessive use of force and violence used by the government against the protestors. They stressed to the government that errors in governing a nation should never be approached with complacency. They wrote that July 14 was a special day of solemn remembrance in the history of Cuban Freemasonry, as it was that day, many years earlier, when the Grand Lodge of Cuba returned to their use of the motto of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. They wrote that all people are equal before the law, and that the Grand Lodge of Cuba stood alongside the people of Cuba, and advocated for peace, harmony and justice.
== Function == In many organs like liver, lung, and kidneys, they are primarily involved in fibrosis. In the wound tissue they are implicated in wound strengthening by extracellular collagen fiber deposition and then wound contraction by intracellular contraction and concomitant alignment of the collagen fibers by integrin-mediated pulling on to the collagen bundles. Pericytes and renal mesangial cells are some examples of modified myofibroblast-like cells. Myofibroblasts may interfere with the propagation of electrical signals controlling heart rhythm, leading to arrhythmia in both patients who have suffered a heart attack and in foetuses. Ursodiol is a promising drug for this condition.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
== Consumption == Worldwide sugar provides 10% of the daily calories (based on a 2000 kcal diet). In 1750 the average Briton got 72 calories a day from sugar. In 1913 this had risen to 395. In 2015, sugar still provided around 14% of the calories in British diets. According to one source, per capita consumption of sugar in 2016 was highest in the United States, followed by Germany and the Netherlands.
12 July – Members of the NASUWT teaching union in England vote to stage strike action over pay, with 85.5% of members voting to do so on a 51.9% turnout. 13 July – Data released by NHS England indicates that 7.47 million people were waiting to begin routing hospital treatment in June 2023, an increase from 7.42 million in May. The UK government proposes a 6.5% pay rise for teachers, with the leaders of all four major teaching unions expressing support for the increase, meaning strikes by teachers in England are likely to end. Pradjeet Veadhasa, 17, and Sukhman Shergill, 17, are sentenced to life imprisonment with minimum terms of 18 and 16 years respectively for the June 2022 murder of 16-year-old Ronan Kanda in Wolverhampton, who they stabbed after mistaking him for an enemy. 14 July – The UK Health Security Agency warns that tens of thousands of cases of measles could potentially occur in London because of low vaccination numbers there. A 65-year-old man is charged with the murders of Naomi Hunte, who was stabbed to death in February 2022, and Fiona Holm, who disappeared in June 2023 and whose body has not been found. The UK government approves plans to build a road tunnel near Stonehenge. Following trial and conviction at Portsmouth Crown Court, Sarah Somerton-How and her lover, George Webb, are both sentenced to 11 years imprisonment for wilful neglect and holding a person in slavery or servitude after they kept Somerton-How's husband, who has cerebral palsy and is severely sight impaired, a prisoner in squalid conditions for four years.
== Stages == A widely recognized heuristic for categorizing downstream processing operations divides them into four groups which are applied in order to bring a product from its natural state as a component of a tissue, cell or fermentation broth through progressive improvements in purity and concentration. Removal of insolubles is the first step and involves the capture of the product as a solute in a particulate-free liquid, for example the separation of cells, cell debris or other particulate matter from fermentation broth containing an antibiotic. Typical operations to achieve this are filtration, centrifugation, sedimentation, precipitation, flocculation, electro-precipitation, and gravity settling. Additional operations such as grinding, homogenization, or leaching, required to recover products from solid sources such as plant and animal tissues, are usually included in this group. Product isolation is the removal of those components whose properties vary considerably from that of the desired product. For most products, water is the chief impurity and isolation steps are designed to remove most of it, reducing the volume of material to be handled and concentrating the product. Solvent extraction, adsorption, ultrafiltration, and precipitation are some of the unit operations involved. Product purification is done to separate those contaminants that resemble the product very closely in physical and chemical properties. Consequently, steps in this stage are expensive to carry out and require sensitive and sophisticated equipment.
=== Absorbed dose and dose equivalent === The British physicist and radiologist and founder of radiobiology Louis Harold Gray (1905-1965) introduced the unit Rad (acronym for radiation absorbed dose) in the 1930s, which was renamed Gray (Gy) after him in 1978. One gray is a mass-specific quantity and corresponds to the energy of one joule absorbed by one kilogram of body weight. Acute whole-body exposures in excess of four Gy are usually fatal to humans. The different types of radiation ionize to different degrees. Ionization is any process in which one or more electrons are removed from an atom or molecule, leaving the atom or molecule as a positively charged ion (cation). Each type of radiation is therefore assigned a dimensionless weighting factor that expresses its biological effectiveness. For X-rays, gamma and beta radiation, the factor is one, alpha radiation reaches a factor of twenty, and for neutron radiation it is between five and twenty, depending on the energy. Multiplying the absorbed dose in Gy by the weighting factor gives the equivalent dose, expressed in Sievert (Sv). It is named after the Swedish physician and physicist Rolf Maximilian Sievert (1896-1966). Sievert was the founder of radiation protection research and developed the Sievert chamber in 1929 to measure the intensity of X-rays. He founded the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU) and later became chairman of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP).
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
== In cooking == Many thickening agents require extra care in cooking. Some starches lose their thickening quality when cooked for too long or at too high a temperature; on the other hand, cooking starches too short or not hot enough might lead to an unpleasant starchy taste or cause water to seep out of the finished product after cooling. Also, higher viscosity causes foods to burn more easily during cooking. As an alternative to adding more thickener, recipes may call for reduction of the food's water content by lengthy simmering. When cooking, it is generally better to add thickener cautiously; if over-thickened, more water may be added but loss of flavour and texture may result. Food thickening can be important for people facing medical issues with chewing or swallowing, as foods with a thicker consistency can reduce the chances of choking, or of inhalation of liquids or food particles, which can lead to aspiration pneumonia.
==== Elimination ==== Atomoxetine and its metabolites are eliminated mainly via excretion into urine. Less than 3% of atomoxetine is excreted unchanged in urine regardless of CYP2D6 status, indicating extensive metabolism. In CYP2D6 extensive metabolizers, who are considered to have normal CYP2D6 activity, more than 96% of a dose of radiolabeled atomoxetine is excreted in urine within 24 hours and 1 to 2% is excreted in feces. Conversely, in CYP2D6 poor metabolizers, excretion is slower, with only 27% excreted after 24 hours, a majority of radioactivity excreted within 72 hours, and ~144 hours required for full excretion. In addition, only 80% of radioactivity is excreted in urine while 13 to 22% is excreted in feces in CYP2D6 poor metabolizers. The major excreted metabolite of atomoxetine is 4-hydroxyatomoxetine glucuronide, which accounts for >80% of the dose in urine but <17% of the dose in feces. The fractions excreted in urine as 4-hydroxyatomoxetine and 4-hydroxyatomoxetine glucuronide account for 86% of a dose in CYP2D6 extensive metabolizers, but only 40% in CYP2D6 poor metabolizers. CYP2D6 poor metabolizers excrete greater amounts of minor atomoxetine metabolites, namely N-desmethylatomoxetine and 2-hydroxymethylatomoxetine and their conjugates, than extensive metabolizers. The elimination half-life of atomoxetine is 4.5 to 5.3 hours in CYP2D6 extensive metabolizers. However, in CYP2D6 poor metabolizers, the half-life of atomoxetine is 19 to 21.6 hours, or about 4-fold longer in comparison.
These announcements caused increases in world gas prices, which analysts said was a part of the Iranian Government's plan to apply pressure on the world to stop the war. On 6 March, Qatar warned that if the war continues, other Gulf energy producers may be forced to halt exports and declare Force Majeure. Also on 6 March, it was reported that according to satellite imagery analysis by both Bloomberg and the Energy Economics and Society Research Institute in Tokyo, that Ras Laffan, the main gas facility in Qatar, appears not to have been damaged before the "unprecedented shutdown" which sent fuel prices higher. The United States, buffered by domestic production, faced less direct impact but saw petrol prices rise 5–10 cents per gallon daily. On 18 March, Iran hit Qatar's inactive Ras Laffan Industrial City LNG complex, causing a 17% reduction in Qatar's LNG production capacity. The damages from this attack would take 3–5 years to fix. Consequently, LNG spot prices in Asia increased by over 140 %. The impacts of the conflict are similar to the 1970s energy crisis, including acute supply shortages, currency volatility, inflation, and heightened risks of stagflation and recession. According to the International Energy Agency's World Energy Investment 2026 report, the crisis was prompting a reshaping of global energy investment and accelerating diversification away from Middle Eastern supply routes.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Trials differ in patient population, dose schedule, background treatment, and the endpoints used to judge success. Many are small and single-center, so random variation can dominate the reported effects.
Authorization is limited to a small number of countries and covers specific indications such as chronic hepatitis B and vaccine adjuvant use. Availability and labelling differ by jurisdiction.
Most reviews describe it as an immunomodulatory agent with an uncertain clinical effect. They generally call for larger, better-controlled trials before firm conclusions are drawn.
Dry lyophilized powder tolerates short ambient exposure during handling and shipping. Long-term room-temperature storage is not recommended because moisture uptake and slow degradation can occur over months. Storage at minus twenty degrees Celsius is the common practice for extended periods.