Retinalamin is a Russian drug made by Geropharm from water-soluble protein fragments (polypeptides) taken from cattle retina. In the studies we found it was injected into muscle as a nerve-protecting treatment for glaucoma and diabetic eye disease. It is not approved in the US, and the published studies are small Russian reports.
Also known as: Retinalamine, retinal polypeptide complex.
The 2025 glaucoma study below used Retinalamin 5 mg vials, each mixed with 1.0 mL of saline (0.9% sodium chloride) and injected into muscle. That is a study protocol, not a recommendation.
Water and syringe-unit charts by vial size: 5 mg
Here is the math for a 5 mg vial mixed with 1 mL of bacteriostatic water, drawing 2.5 mg with a U-100 insulin syringe (1 mL = 100 units).
5 mg ÷ 1 mL = 5 mg/mL2.5 mg ÷ 5 mg/mL = 0.5 mL0.5 mL × 100 = 50 units| Amount | Volume | U-100 syringe |
|---|---|---|
| 1.25 mg | 0.25 mL | 25 units |
| 2.5 mg | 0.5 mL | 50 units |
| 5 mg | 1 mL | 100 units |
Adding more water doesn't change how much retinalamin is in the vial. It only spreads it over more liquid, so each draw is bigger and easier to read.
| Water added | Concentration | Volume | U-100 syringe |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 mL | 5 mg/mL | 0.5 mL | 50 units |
| 2 mL | 2.5 mg/mL | 1 mL | 100 units |
For any other vial size or amount, the free peptide reconstitution calculator works backwards from the amount you want and suggests a water volume that lands on a clean syringe mark.
Several Russian eye clinics have reported on it, all in the same Russian journal. In a randomized study of 147 people with early glaucoma and controlled eye pressure (Strakhov 2020), one group got a course of retinalamin every 6 months for 2 years; the nerve fiber layer stayed stable in that group and thinned in the untreated group, but the two groups did not differ at the end. In 56 people with advanced glaucoma (Dorofeev 2025), 10 injections of 5 mg into muscle every 3 months for 2 years were followed by slower loss of visual field and nerve fiber than in people who got no nerve-protecting treatment; this was not a randomized trial.
In 146 people with glaucoma randomly split 2 to 1 (Aprelev 2018), one course of 10 injections into muscle on top of standard treatment was linked to better vision and contrast tests over 3 months, with no side effects reported. In 56 people with diabetic eye disease (Malakhova 2024), the authors reported improvements on scans and nerve tests with injections into muscle compared with no treatment. None of these abstracts describes a placebo or blinding. In lab tests the drug bound glutamate receptors linked to retinal nerve cell loss, and in mice it reached brain and eye tissue (Verlov 2021, co-authored by staff of a drug company).
We could not find a published human half-life for retinalamin. A mouse study (Verlov 2021) found it in brain and eye tissue 30 minutes after injection into a vein or muscle and suggested it leaves mainly through the kidneys, but did not report a half-life.
How Dose Track handles peptides · Reconstitution calculator · Half-life calculator