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Benefits and uses

DSIP benefits and uses

No benefit of DSIP is established in people. Most reported benefits come from small intravenous studies published from 1981 to 1998, mainly on sleep.1 One research group reported faster sleep onset and longer sleep, while placebo-controlled trials by two other groups found little benefit.11112 FDA called the sleep evidence inconclusive and at best preliminary.1

This page summarizes published sources for information only. It is not medical advice and does not tell anyone to use a product. Questions about your own health belong with a licensed clinician. For questions about an order or a product, contact us.

How to read these findings

The human studies FDA reviewed all gave DSIP intravenously, mostly to groups of 6 to 20 people.1 FDA's 2026 review notes that the positive insomnia results came from studies authored by Schneider-Helmert, while two similar placebo-controlled studies by other groups did not reach the same conclusions.1 FDA judged the evidence inconclusive for insomnia and insufficient for opioid withdrawal.1 Each finding below names its evidence level.

Sleep

Animal studies

The 1977 study that named DSIP tested 9 synthetic peptides in 58 rabbits, counting controls, and only DSIP significantly and specifically increased delta and spindle EEG patterns.2 A 1984 review reported that DSIP mainly induced delta sleep in rabbits, rats, mice and humans, while in cats its effect on REM sleep was more pronounced.3 Later animal results were inconsistent, and a Russian group found that some artificial DSIP analogues, but not DSIP itself, promoted slow-wave sleep in rabbits and rats.14

Healthy volunteers

In a 1981 double-blind crossover study, 6 healthy volunteers received a slow morning infusion.5 Total sleep over the next 130 minutes rose by a median 59% compared with placebo, and the following night they fell asleep sooner and slept more efficiently.5 Detailed behavioral and EEG tests found no sedation in the classic drug sense.5

People with insomnia

Study People and design What was reported
Schneider-Helmert and Schoenenberger, 1981 6 middle-aged adults; randomized, double-blind crossover61 Longer, less interrupted sleep, starting in the second hour after injection6
Schneider-Helmert and Schoenenberger, 1983 5 small double-blind studies7 Disturbed sleep fully normalized after four consecutive injections7
Kaeser, 1984 7 adults with severe insomnia; open (unblinded) study, 10 injections8 Sleep normalized in all but 1, for 3 to 7 months of follow-up8
Schneider-Helmert, 1986 18 adults aged 29 to 83; compared with an external control group91 Normal sleep patterns across the group by the end of the study9
Schneider-Helmert, 1987 14 middle-aged adults; no placebo arm101 Time to fall asleep went from 58.4 to 27.6 minutes; total sleep from 313 to 385 minutes1
Monti et al., 1987 6 adults with severe insomnia; double-blind crossover with placebo11 Small changes; differences from placebo were not significant or were already present at baseline; deep and REM sleep unchanged111
Bes et al., 1992 16 adults; double-blind parallel groups with placebo12 Weak effects, possibly due in part to a chance change in the placebo group; no change in subjective sleep quality121

FDA's 2026 review found this record inconclusive and at best preliminary, with no information on benefit from long-term use.1 Monti's group judged any sleep improvement of little clinical significance, and Bes's group concluded that DSIP was not likely to be of major benefit.1112 In a separate 1987 case report, one week of inpatient DSIP moved a 47-year-old woman's main sleep period 5 hours earlier and let her stop the sleeping pill flunitrazepam.13

Daytime alertness

In its 1983 summary of five double-blind studies, the Swiss group reported that DSIP given to awake subjects raised alertness and performance.7 The 1987 study of 14 insomniacs also found significant gains in daytime alertness and performance, though FDA notes it had no placebo arm.101 In one 35-year-old man with narcolepsy, repeated injections cut the number of sleep attacks and raised daytime activity and alertness; FDA notes that a single-subject report limits what can be concluded.141 Nasal DSIP appears in only one report found, a 2001 letter on the P300 brain response; with no abstract, its size and design are unknown.15

Drug and alcohol withdrawal

A 1984 open study gave intravenous DSIP to 107 inpatients in alcohol (47) or opiate (60) withdrawal.16 Among patients who could be evaluated, symptoms disappeared or improved markedly and rapidly in 97% of the opiate group and 87% of the alcohol group.16 The study had no blinding and no comparison group.1 In a 1998 open study of 7 adults with opioid dependence, withdrawal scores fell after the first injection, but only 2 completed the planned injections, and symptoms returned after later injections in all but 1.1

Pain

A 1984 pilot study treated 7 patients with migraine episodes, vasomotor headaches, chronic tinnitus or psychogenic pain attacks.17 Pain levels fell significantly in 6 of them, in a design with no control group.17

Stress hormones

Results on stress hormones are mixed.1820 In 11 healthy men, one intravenous dose lowered ACTH-like immunoreactivity, a marker of the pituitary signal that drives cortisol, for at least 3 hours, while cortisol was unaffected.18 A 1994 study in 8 men also found lower ACTH.19 A 1995 study found no effect on ACTH or cortisol, and its authors concluded their data did not support an inhibitory role for DSIP.20

Other reported effects

  • Rodents: DSIP has been reported to lower body temperature, blunt stress responses, act as an antioxidant and an anticonvulsant, and reduce pain.1
  • Older adults with diabetes, 2004: in an uncontrolled Russian pilot of 11 people given the DSIP product Deltaran, the authors reported better sleep quality, mood and anxiety scores and lower blood sugar after a carbohydrate meal.22
  • Mice, 2024: a DSIP fusion peptide built to cross the blood-brain barrier corrected neurotransmitter imbalances better than plain DSIP in a mouse model of insomnia.23

What has not been shown

  • Growth hormone: a 1993 study found no change in growth hormone or prolactin, and a 2004 uncontrolled pilot reported lower growth hormone.2122
  • Deeper anesthesia: in a 2009 trial, DSIP made isoflurane anesthesia lighter, not deeper.24
  • Healing and muscle: FDA's 2026 review evaluated DSIP only for opioid withdrawal and sleep disorders, including chronic insomnia, and the research behind this page found no study of DSIP for injury healing or muscle growth.1
  • A natural sleep role: no DSIP gene, protein or receptor had been isolated by 2006, and a review that year called the evidence for DSIP as a sleep factor extremely poorly documented and weak.4

Read What is DSIP? for the full profile, DSIP side effects for the safety record, and DSIP dosage for the doses these studies used. Other compounds studied for sleep are mapped in Peptides and sleep.

More on DSIP

  • DSIP dosage

    Published dosing information for DSIP from clinical trials and published studies, with its source, and why it is not advice for you.

  • DSIP side effects

    Side effects of DSIP as reported in clinical trials and published studies, with links to the full profile. Reviewed by a qualified reviewer.

DSIP in the store

DSIP for sale: strengths, stock and shipping are on the product page.

For research use only. Not for human or veterinary use. Read the research use policy.

Frequently asked questions

How much does DSIP help?

It depends on the study design.1 In the most favorable study, 14 adults with chronic insomnia went from 58.4 to 27.6 minutes to fall asleep over 7 nights, and total sleep rose from 313 to 385 minutes, but that study had no placebo arm.1 In a randomized, placebo-controlled crossover study of 6 adults with insomnia, the changes were small and, per FDA, not significant against baseline or placebo.111 No dose for people is established.1

Why isn't DSIP working for me?

No one can judge an individual result, and DSIP is not approved for any use in people.1 The research does offer context. Controlled insomnia trials found weak or no benefit.1112 DSIP is also broken down in blood within minutes, with a plasma half-life of about 8 minutes.1 FDA found no study of DSIP injected under the skin, nasal use appears in only one 2001 letter, and FDA notes that products sold under the DSIP name may differ in form or even in active substance.115

Does DSIP increase growth hormone?

Not in the human studies that measured it.2122 In 1993, researchers gave intravenous DSIP to healthy women aged 17 to 36 and found no change in growth hormone or prolactin, either at rest or after an arginine test that stimulates growth hormone release.21 A 2004 uncontrolled Russian pilot of a DSIP product in 11 older adults with diabetes reported lower growth hormone levels after treatment.22 No human study found for this page shows DSIP raising growth hormone or building muscle.2122

Does DSIP help with opioid withdrawal?

The evidence is weak. Both published studies were open-label, the larger 1984 study had no comparison group, and in the 1998 study only 2 of 7 patients completed the planned injections.1 FDA's 2026 review concluded that the evidence was insufficient to judge whether DSIP works for opioid withdrawal, and it noted that FDA-approved treatments with established efficacy already exist.1

Written by D2C Peptides Editorial Team.

Pending qualified review.

Updated .

Sources

  1. FDA Briefing Document, PCAC July 23-24, 2026: Emideltide-Related Bulk Drug Substances (dated 5/11/2026). U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2026.
  2. Characterization of a delta-electroencephalogram (-sleep)-inducing peptide. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PMC), 1977.
  3. Delta-sleep-inducing peptide (DSIP): a review (Graf and Kastin). Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews (abstract via PubMed, NLM), 1984.
  4. Delta sleep-inducing peptide (DSIP): a still unresolved riddle (Kovalzon and Strekalova). Journal of Neurochemistry (abstract via PubMed, NLM), 2006.
  5. Acute and delayed effects of DSIP (delta sleep-inducing peptide) on human sleep behavior (Schneider-Helmert et al.). International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, Therapy and Toxicology (abstract via PubMed, NLM), 1981.
  6. The influence of synthetic DSIP (delta-sleep-inducing-peptide) on disturbed human sleep (Schneider-Helmert and Schoenenberger). Experientia (abstract via PubMed, NLM), 1981.
  7. Effects of DSIP in man. Multifunctional psychophysiological properties besides induction of natural sleep (Schneider-Helmert and Schoenenberger). Neuropsychobiology (abstract via PubMed, NLM), 1983.
  8. A clinical trial with DSIP (Kaeser). European Neurology (abstract via PubMed, NLM), 1984.
  9. Efficacy of DSIP to normalize sleep in middle-aged and elderly chronic insomniacs (Schneider-Helmert). European Neurology (abstract via PubMed, NLM), 1986.
  10. Effects of delta-sleep-inducing peptide on 24-hour sleep-wake behaviour in severe chronic insomnia (Schneider-Helmert). European Neurology (abstract via PubMed, NLM), 1987.
  11. Study of delta sleep-inducing peptide efficacy in improving sleep on short-term administration to chronic insomniacs (Monti et al.). International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology Research (abstract via PubMed, NLM), 1987.
  12. Effects of delta sleep-inducing peptide on sleep of chronic insomniac patients. A double-blind study (Bes et al.). Neuropsychobiology (abstract via PubMed, NLM), 1992.
  13. The use of DSIP (delta sleep-inducing peptide) in the correction of phase-shifted insomnia (Schneider-Helmert et al.; article in German). Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift (abstract via PubMed, NLM), 1987.
  14. Effects of DSIP on narcolepsy (Schneider-Helmert). European Neurology (abstract via PubMed, NLM), 1984.
  15. Intranasal administration of delta sleep-inducing peptide increases P300 (Hruz et al.; letter). Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology (citation via PubMed, NLM), 2001.
  16. DSIP in the treatment of withdrawal syndromes from alcohol and opiates (Dick et al.). European Neurology (abstract via PubMed, NLM), 1984.
  17. Therapeutic effects of delta-sleep-inducing peptide (DSIP) in patients with chronic, pronounced pain episodes. A clinical pilot study (Larbig et al.). European Neurology (abstract via PubMed, NLM), 1984.
  18. Reduction of immunoreactive ACTH in plasma following intravenous injection of delta sleep-inducing peptide in man (Bjartell et al.). Psychoneuroendocrinology (abstract via PubMed, NLM), 1989.
  19. Different effects of delta-sleep-inducing peptide on arginine-vasopressin and ACTH secretion in normal men (Chiodera et al.). Hormone Research (abstract via PubMed, NLM), 1994.
  20. Delta-sleep-inducing peptide does not affect CRH and meal-induced ACTH and cortisol secretion (Spath-Schwalbe et al.). Psychoneuroendocrinology (abstract via PubMed, NLM), 1995.
  21. Delta sleep-inducing peptide administration does not influence growth hormone and prolactin secretion in normal women (Giusti et al.). Psychoneuroendocrinology (abstract via PubMed, NLM), 1993.
  22. Diabetes mellitus in elderly: geroprotective and antidiabetic properties of delta-sleep induced peptide (Odin et al.; article in Russian). Advances in Gerontology (abstract via PubMed, NLM), 2004.
  23. Pichia pastoris secreted peptides crossing the blood-brain barrier and DSIP fusion peptide efficacy in PCPA-induced insomnia mouse models (Mu et al.). Frontiers in Pharmacology (PMC), 2024.
  24. Delta sleep-inducing peptide alters bispectral index, the electroencephalogram and heart rate variability when used as an adjunct to isoflurane anaesthesia (Pomfrett et al.). European Journal of Anaesthesiology (abstract via PubMed, NLM), 2009.