DSIP: What the Research Actually Shows

DSIP (delta sleep-inducing peptide, also called emideltide) is a nine-amino-acid peptide, Trp-Ala-Gly-Gly-Asp-Ala-Ser-Gly-Glu, isolated in 1977 by a Basel group who reported that it enhanced slow-wave (delta) EEG activity in rabbits. It was studied through the 1980s as a candidate natural sleep factor, but its gene, precursor protein and receptor have never been identified, and its role in sleep remains unproven.

Below is what the studies looked at, in what kind of model, and what they reported. This is a summary of published research, not a description of what the compound does in a person.

Quick facts

• Names: DSIP, delta sleep-inducing peptide, emideltide (the international nonproprietary name).
• Sequence: Trp-Ala-Gly-Gly-Asp-Ala-Ser-Gly-Glu (WAGGDASGE), nine amino acids (Schoenenberger and Monnier, 1977).
• Molecular formula C35H48N10O15, 848.8 g/mol, CAS 62568-57-4 (PubChem CID 68816).
• Origin: isolated from rabbit blood. Its structure does not match any other known peptide family (Kovalzon and Strekalova, 2006).
• Evidence: animal studies, and small human studies mostly from 1981 to 1992.
• Approval status: DSIP is not an approved drug in the United States, and the FDA‘s Drugs@FDA database lists no product containing it.

What the research found, and what it did not

The early work was in rabbits and other animals. The human studies were small, and the two controlled trials below are the strongest of them. Results are listed as the authors reported them, including the ones that missed.

The discovery paper (Schoenenberger and Monnier, PNAS, 1977). The Basel group isolated the peptide from rabbits, worked out its sequence, and synthesized it along with several fragments and analogs. Delivered into the brain of rabbits under double-blind conditions, only the full synthetic nonapeptide produced a specific rise in delta and spindle EEG patterns, across 58 animals including controls. Rabbits. PMID 265572.

The early review (Graf and Kastin, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 1984). Seven years in, the authors summarized reports of mainly delta-sleep effects in rabbits, rats, mice and humans, with REM effects more prominent in cats, and a U-shaped response curve. They also listed reported effects well beyond sleep, on brain electrical activity, neurotransmitter levels, circadian and movement patterns, hormone levels and the activity of other drugs that act on the brain. Review. PMID 6145137.

A controlled crossover in insomnia (Monti, International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology Research, 1987). Patients with chronic insomnia received DSIP or placebo over four nights in a double-blind crossover, with sleep recorded in the lab. Total sleep time and stage 2 sleep rose with DSIP, but the same differences were already present at baseline, and deep sleep and REM did not change. The authors judged the improvement to be of little clinical significance. PMID 3583493.

A double-blind trial in insomnia (Bes, Neuropsychobiology, 1992). Sixteen people with chronic insomnia were split between DSIP and placebo across five nights in a sleep lab. The DSIP group showed higher sleep efficiency and shorter time to fall asleep on recordings, but the authors wrote that the effects were weak and partly explained by a chance change in the placebo group, and that subjective sleep quality did not change. They concluded short-term DSIP was not likely to be of major benefit. PMID 1299794.

The unresolved riddle (Kovalzon and Strekalova, Journal of Neurochemistry, 2006). A review by two sleep researchers. They wrote that the link between DSIP and sleep was never characterized further, partly because no DSIP gene, precursor protein or receptor had been isolated, and called the sleep-factor hypothesis poorly documented and weak. In their own rabbit and rat work, certain lab-made DSIP analogs promoted slow-wave sleep, but DSIP itself did not. They proposed that a different, still unidentified DSIP-like peptide may explain the activity. Review. PMID 16539679.

How it works, as far as anyone knows

Most peptide pages can describe a receptor and a pathway. This one cannot. DSIP has no identified receptor, no identified gene and no identified precursor protein (Kovalzon and Strekalova, 2006). Antibodies that recognize DSIP do stain specific hormone-producing nuclei in the hypothalamus of several species, but those areas are not the ones that run sleep.

That leaves two readings of the literature. One is that DSIP is a real signaling peptide whose machinery has not been found yet. The other, put forward in the 2006 review, is that the antibodies and the activity point to a related peptide, and DSIP itself is a fragment or a close copy of it. Neither has been settled.

DSIP sits in the neuropeptide research area with better-mapped compounds. Selank and Semax are synthetic peptides built from known natural sequences, which is the clearest contrast with DSIP’s unknown origin.

What the research does not establish

• The finding behind the name was in rabbits. In the two controlled human trials, the authors judged the effects weak or of little clinical significance.
• The human studies were small, short and mostly from the 1980s and early 1990s. We found no modern controlled trial.
• No receptor, gene or precursor has been found, so there is no confirmed mechanism.
• Each finding describes what happened in a research model.
• Nothing here is a safety conclusion, and this is not a claim that the compound is safe to use.

The name is a hypothesis from 1977. The research since has not confirmed it.

Common questions

What does DSIP stand for?

DSIP stands for delta sleep-inducing peptide, a name given in 1977 because the peptide raised delta-wave EEG activity in rabbits (Schoenenberger and Monnier, 1977). Its international nonproprietary name is emideltide. The name describes the first animal finding, not a confirmed effect in people.

What did the human sleep studies find?

Neither of the two controlled trials we found reported an effect its authors judged clinically meaningful. A 1992 double-blind trial in 16 people with chronic insomnia concluded short-term DSIP was not likely to be of major benefit (Bes et al., 1992), and the authors of a 1987 crossover study judged the differences they saw to be of little clinical significance, partly because the same differences were present before treatment (Monti et al., 1987).

Is there a DSIP receptor?

None has been identified. A 2006 review noted that no DSIP gene, precursor protein or receptor had been isolated, which is a large part of why its biology remains unclear (Kovalzon and Strekalova, 2006).

Is DSIP a natural peptide?

It was first isolated from rabbit blood, so it was found in an animal, but whether the body makes it as a signaling molecule is unproven. With no gene or precursor identified, researchers have proposed that the natural signal may be a related, still unidentified peptide (Kovalzon and Strekalova, 2006).

Is DSIP in the Etched Research shop?

No. DSIP is not part of the Etched Research retail catalog. This page is in the research library because the compound is part of neuropeptide research, and the library covers more compounds than the shop does.

More in this research area: Brain & Nerve Research | Research Library

Last reviewed 2026-10-05.

For research use only. Not for human consumption.